It was really a great privilege for the kids of the Mascalzone Latino Sailing School who a few days ago visited Nave Maestrale in the port of Naples and to accompanied her Gaeta on the leg of her final voyage before being decommissioned in the La Spezia Arsenal.
Two unique days for the Neapolitan kids who were invited for their first contact with the grey ships of the Italian Navy, taking the opportunity to salute one of the most valuable ships in service, the Maestrale. With a long history of missions and training that made headlines in the past decades of anti-terrorist activities, the fight against piracy and illicit traffic. Patrols, deterrence but also many humanitarian and rescue missions, including the famous Mare Nostrum. A vessel that will be remembered above all as a peacekeeper, giving concrete support and hope to people is in difficulty.
The first day, Tuesday, November 24, the instructors of the sailing school accompanied the kids of the Assocazione Quartieri Spagnoli and of the Salesiani del Don Bosco. A group of 30 people visited the exterior of the ship. The crew were very kind and described most of the instruments on board, including weapon technologies.
On the second day, Wednesday the 25th, the young mascalzones of the racing teams had the unique privilege (apart from them only the crew and a small group of journalists) of accompanying the oldest ship in the Italian Navy fleet as far as Gaeta, on her final voyage towards La Spezia, where she will be decommissioned. The ship had a thrilling salute from the tugs which rotated with their horns blaring, spraying water in all directions and creating plays of light and rainbows.
On the short but busy voyage, the kids took part in the life of the ship, eating with the sailors in the classic multi-compartment steel dishes used for eating on the move and suitable for easy and repeated washing. So the very young students experienced a day in life on board, punctuated by orders through the megaphone for changes of watch, cleaning and meals. The main tasks on board were explained as were the various responsibilities of crew members with important roles. Many of the students were already thinking of a life in the military, so there were many questions about how to get selected. The idea then emerged of proposing in the near future a meeting in the Mascalzone Latino Sailing School headquarters to talk about careers in the Navy.
After about five hours’sailing, Nave Maestrale entered the NATO port of Gaeta, escorted by the tugs. These six students who took part in the brief crossing were apart, even if only for a few hours, of the last pages of the glorious history of this ship. Welcoming them to the anchorage, the dawn of a marvellous red moon, a sign of hope for the future.