Eugenio Henke (1909-1990) was an admiral of the Italian Armed forces who served as the director of the Defense Information Service (SID) from July 1966 to October 1970. He became the Chief of Defense Staff from August 1972 to January 1975; he was the first sea soldier to hold the position in Italy. Eugenio Henke, an admiral of the

Italian Royal Navy The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...

, was born 15 November 1909 in Genoa, Italy; he enrolled in the Royal Naval Academy Livorno in ordinary courses and graduate in 1931. He became lieutenant during the outbreak of

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 opposi ...

and was the deputy in command of the Vincenzo Gioberti destroyer until 1941. Eugenio Henke had participated in over 40 war and mission, 16 convoys escort missions, in inclusion was the battle of Capo Matapan, the

Punta Stilo Punta Stilo (Italian for "Cape of Columns") is the name of an arcuate headland in Calabria, Italy. It lies immediately north of Monasterace (the site of ancient Caulonia) and constitutes the western coast of the Gulf of Squillace. Pliny the Elde ...

and the Capo Teulada.

Commands and ranks

He was the command of Escort Torpedo boat Orsa during his promotion to lieutenant captain, was in March 1942, at La Spezia he was in command of ''VAS 235'', was in 1943.

German troops in La Spezia

During the German troops in La Spezia, was between September 1943, he was persuaded to leave the La Spezia port with the ''VAS 234'', although the German troops were sent to occupy the Italian by surprise. The ''VAS'' 234 was under command of Rear Admiral

Federico Martinengo Federico Carlo Martinengo (18 July 1899 – 9 September 1943) was an Italian flying ace, credited with five aerial victories, during World War I, and an Italian admiral during World War II. Early life and service Federico Carlo Martinengo was b ...

. The German troops opened fire during the furious clash; the ''VAS 234'' was hit and exploded; Eugenio Henke managed to escape with the other crew on it. He was the commander of Sant'Alfonso a submarine fighter which was in November 1943, he headed the superior torpedo command under it training service until 1947 of which he rose up to be the deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy, he later became the frigate captain in January 1948 until when he was made the commander of the 1st Corvette Squadron school of the Naval command

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in December 1951. He was moved to the Ministry of Defence in 1953 until a promotion to captain of vessel captain in 1954, he rose to become the deputy chief of Navy and served as the head of general secretary of the Navy together as commander of the navy of Rome. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1960 and was commander of 4th Italian naval division in December 1964 before he rose to be the head of Defence Information Service at the rank of vice admiral in 1965, that experience great strategy of tension and massacre, although he already became an admiral since January 1968. As the director of SID, he was involved in conducting Investigation of the incident but denied all it after the Ministry of the Interior in 1970 reported that it was from the SID that had reported a certain in Guerin Serac, in that 1970 during October he left the office of and moved on to commands the Central Mediterranean of NATO and at same time Vice President of the Marine Section of the Superior Council of the Armed Forces, he was also a Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Squad was between 1970 until when he was made the Chief of Staff of Defence in August 1972 by the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

, he left the office on 31 January 1975.

Coup and testimony

He was called by the judiciary department to testify some investigation which although he was involved, the one of Borghese coup and oil scandal during 1974, other was the one of which have to do with murder of a journalist

Mino Pecorelli Carmine "Mino" Pecorelli (; 14 September 1928 – 20 March 1979) was an Italian journalist, shot dead in Rome a year after former prime minister Aldo Moro's 1978 kidnapping and subsequent killing. He was described as a "maverick journalist wit ...

. He was later tried for helping to hide on the truth of the intelligence plane that crashed in

Marghera Marghera is a ''municipalità'' (borough) of the ''comune'' of Venice, Italy. It includes the industrial area known as Porto Marghera (English: Marghera Port) or Venezia Porto Marghera. Etymology The name Marghera is said in popular myth to come ...

was in 1973, the tried happen in 1989.

death

He died in

at the Celio military hospital on February 4, 1990.

Awards

* Bronze Medals for Military Valor.

References

Citations

* * * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Henke, Eugenio 1909 births 1990 deaths Chief Commanders of the Legion of Merit Chiefs of Defence Staff (Italy) Italian admirals NATO military personnel People from the Province of Genoa Commanders of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Maurician medal 19th-century Italian military personnel