Luigi Ferraro (3 November 1914,

Quarto dei Mille Quarto dei Mille is a residential district in the east of Genoa. Overlooking the sea and between the " Sturla" and "Quinto al mare" districts, it was originally called the "Quarto al mare". In 1860, the "Expedition of the Thousand The Expediti ...

– 5 January 2006,

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

) was an officer of the

Royal Italian 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'' (" ...

and pioneer of Italian submarine warfare, most notable for his service with the commando frogman unit

Decima Flottiglia MAS The ''Decima Flottiglia MAS'' (''Decima Flottiglia Motoscafi Armati Siluranti'', also known as ''La Decima'' or Xª MAS) (Italian for "10th Assault Vehicle Flotilla") was an Italian flotilla, with commando frogman unit, of the ''Regia Marina'' ...

. In 1943 in Turkey he attacked four ships carrying chromium ore. He was decorated with the gold medal for military valor for having sunk three enemy ships alone. Ferraro designed a number of innovations in scuba diving equipment for

Cressi-sub Cressi is one of the largest manufacturers of water sports equipment in the world serving the scuba dive, Snorkeling, snorkel and Human swimming, swim industries. The company's five divisions cover four markets—scuba diving, snorkeling, spearfi ...

, and in 1962 with Carlos Reinberg, he founded Technisub, a manufacturer of various underwater diving equipment. Cressi made and launched Luigi Ferraro's two most important innovations during the early 1950s. One was the "Pinocchio"

diving mask Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

, the first mask with a rubber nose pocket enabling the fingers to pinch the nostrils, facilitating ear equalization. The other was the Cressi Rondine, the first swimming fin featuring a closed heel, a toe opening and an offset blade, which maximised both wearing comfort and hydrodynamic efficiency.

References

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* * 1914 births 2006 deaths Regia Marina personnel of World War II Military personnel from Genoa Diving equipment manufacturers {{Italy-mil-bio-stub