If you are a warship fan, you have no doubt seen it in the background in hundreds of classic images.
Italian destroyer Dardo shown in 1935 entering Taranto with the Aragon Castle in the background. NH 85759
Italian corvettes Gabbiano (F-571) and Pellicano (F-574) pass the Ponte Girevole swing bridge in Taranto. In the background is the 15th Century Aragon Castle
Swedish minelayer HSwMS Älvsnabben Entering Taranto Harbour ~1976-77 during one of her 25 Naval Training Voyages
ITS Andrea Doria (D 553) leaving the naval base of Taranto 2019
San Giorgio,
Dreadnought battleship RM Dante Alighieri pictured as she traverses the Ponte Girevole Swingbridge at Taranto on February 25th, 1917. Castello Aragonese is to the left
Taranto’s seven-towered Castello Aragonese was built in 1496 for Ferdinand II of Aragon but has fortifications on its compound dating back to the Byzantine era. Since 1883 the fort has been occupied first by the Regia Marina and then by the post-WWII Marina Militare, with the latter working since 2003 to restore and preserve the castle.
The below tour, posted last week by the Italian Navy, is very interesting and, should you need the translation, just click on the closed captioning, then “settings” and choose “auto-translate English” for a fair approximation.
Let me introduce myself. I am a bit of a conflict junkie. I am fascinated by war and warfare, assassination, personal protection and weaponry ranging from spud guns and flame throwers to thermonuclear bombs and Soviet-trained Ebola monkeys. In short, if it’s violent or a tool to create violence it is kind of my thing.
I have written a few thousand articles on the dry encyclopedia side for such websites as Guns.com, University of Guns, Outdoor Hub, Tac-44, History Times, Big Game Hunter, Glock Forum, Firearms Talk.com, and Combat Forums; as well as for print publications like England Expects, and Strike First Strike Fast. Several magazines such as Sea Classics, Military Historian and Collector, Mississippi Sportsman and Warship International have carried my pieces. Additionally I am on staff as a naval consultant and writer for Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine.
Currently I am working on several book projects including an alternative history novel about the US-German War of 1916, and a biography of Southern gadfly and soldier of fortune Bennett Doty. My first novel, about the coming zombie apocalypse was released in 2012 by Necro Publications and can be found at Amazon.com as was the prequel, Chimera-44. I am currently working on book two of that series: "Pirates of the Zombie Coast."
In my day job I am a contractor for the U.S. federal government in what could best be described as the ‘Force Protection’ field. In this I am an NRA-certified firearms, and less-than-lethal combat instructor.
The Mechanix of Auto, Aviation, Military...pert near anything I feel relates to mechanical things, places, events or whatever I happen to like. Even non-mechanical artsy-fartsy stuff.
