Arturo Riccardi (30 October 1878 – 20 December 1966) was an Italian admiral during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, serving as the Ministry of Marine Director General of Personnel from 1935 to 1940 and Under Secretary of State of the Navy from 1941 until 1943. A specialist of

aerial warfare Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare. Aerial warfare includes bombers attacking enemy installations or a concentration of enemy troops or strategic targets; fighter aircraft battling for control o ...

, Riccardi frequently worked with senior German naval officers on the defense of the Italian peninsula.

Early career

Born to Adolph Riccardi and Ifigenia Rasini Di Mortigliengo in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, (although other sources claim

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; pms, Salusse ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are fo ...

), Riccardi entered the Italian military academy to become a successful career soldier. Seeing action with the Italian marines in the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

in 1900–1901, the Far East Campaign of 1905, and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Riccardi was awarded several medals for valor. These medals included the

Bronze Medal of Military Valor The Bronze Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. It was established by Charles Albert of Sardinia on 26 March 1833, along with the higher ranking Gold and Silver Medals for Military ...

, China Campaign Medal (1900–1901), Gold Cross for Seniority,

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit ...

, Medal of War (1915–1918), Unit of Italy memorial medal, inter-allied Victory Medal, among others.

Interwar years

Heading the Cabinet to the Ministry of Navy from 6 February until 13 May 1925, Riccardi was finally made an admiral on 8 September 1932. Following his admission into the

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

( PNF) political party in 1934, he won promotion to vice admiral on 27 December 1935. Riccardi would go on to hold a series of positions including Chief Executive Officer Official of the Case of Navy and Member of the Permanent Commission for the lighting system and signalling of the coasts on 12 August, as well as General Manager of the Staff and the Military Services to the Ministry of Navy on 22 August 1935, before becoming Ministry of Marine Director General of Personnel.

Second World War

Riccardi's first major engagement took place at the

Battle of Taranto The Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War between British naval forces, under Admiral Andrew Cunningham, and Italian naval forces, under Admiral Inigo Campioni. The Royal Navy launched ...

, when British carrier-borne torpedo bombers delivered a devastating surprise attack against Italian naval targets in the harbor of Taranto on the night of 11–12 November 1940. Succeeding Admiral

Domenico Cavagnari Domenico Cavagnari (20 July 1876, Genoa – 2 November 1966, Rome) was an Italian admiral and the Chief of Staff of the Regia Marina from 1934 until 1940. Early life and career Born to a pharmacist, he enrolled in the Accademia Navale di Liv ...

as chief of staff of the Italian Royal Navy (''

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

'') on 11 December 1940, Riccardi became de facto commander of the existing Ministries for wartime aviation and naval forces. Riccardi did this in addition to his position as the Department of the Navy's Undersecretary of State. Meeting with representatives of the

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'', Riccardi led the Italian Royal Navy delegation, along with

Raffaele de Courten Raffaele de Courten (Milan, 23 September 1888 – Frascati, 23 August 1978) was an Italian admiral. He was the last Chief of Staff of the Regia Marina. Life Raffaele de Courten was born in Milan in 1888. He joined the Naval Academy of Leghorn ...

, Emilio Brenta, and Carlo Giartosio during the Conference of Merano, from 13 February to 14 February 1941. Riccardi was forced to surrender both positions on 25 July 1943, following the downfall of Italian dictator

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

's fascist regime. Under the new

Pietro Badoglio Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...

administration,

officially succeeded Riccardi as Naval Minister and, after 1945, the position came up in the new Ministry of Defense.

Honours

''From the Italian Wikipedia'' *Commander of the Colonial Order of the Star of Italy (16 July 1936; also appointed Officer on the same date) *Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (28 September 1936; Commander: 15 June 1933; Officer: 1 June 1930; Knight: 6 December 1914) *Grand Cross with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Italy (1 February 1940; Grand Officer: 27 October 1934; Commander: 12 November 1925; Officer: 14 December 1919; Knight: 14 December 1911) *Iron Cross (18 January 1943) *Bronze Medal of Military Valor (For China Campaign: 8 September 1904) *Allied Victory Medal (WWI) *Commemorative Medal of the Unity of Italy *Maurizian Medal *Italian War Cross *Gold Cross for Long Service *Commemorative Medal for the China Campaign 1900-1901 *Commemorative Medal for the Italo-Austrian War 1915-1918

References

*Parrish, Thomas and S. L. A. Marshall, ed. ''The Simon and Schuster Encyclopedia of World War II'', New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978.

External links

Scheda senatore RICCARDI Arturo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riccardi, Arturo 1878 births 1966 deaths Italian admirals Italian military personnel of World War I Regia Marina personnel of World War II Admirals of World War II Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Recipients of the War Merit Cross (Italy) Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus 20th-century Italian politicians