O'ahu Italians await arrival of tall ship
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
Graziella Parrent never thought she'd see the day when such a famous piece of her home country would grace Hawaiian waters.
Italian Navy
But tomorrow morning, the Italian tall ship Amerigo Vespucci will sail into Honolulu Harbor for the first time. The Italian Naval Academy training vessel named after the 15th-century explorer will be greeted in grand style by the local Italian community when it docks at Aloha Tower.
The tall ship Amerigo Vespucci, 71 years old and a training vessel for the Italian Naval Academy, is the oldest ship in the Italian navy.
Parrent, who moved to Hawai'i from Italy more than 30 years ago, will be among those welcoming the vessel.
"It's a beautiful sight to see for everybody," said Parrent, who last saw the Amerigo Vespucci 15 years ago in Italy. "It's from the mother land and it's the pride of Italy. It's touching."
Parrent's daughter, Margherita, who moved to Hawai'i with her parents when she was 13, is looking forward to the ship's arrival as a board member of the Friends of Italy Society of Hawai'i.
"It's a very big deal and historic event," she said. "When you're away from Italy for so long, it's Italian soil coming to you."
The three-masted ship, built 71 years ago, is the oldest vessel in the Italian Navy. It carries a crew of 421, including 126 cadets, and is making its first Pacific crossing.
Capt. Raffaele Caruso, Italy's naval attache in Washington, D.C., said the ship normally trains in the Mediterranean, but it is important for the future naval officers to experience different sea conditions.
"In the Italian Navy, we believe that the contact with the winds, which are the natural elements of the sea, is very important for the formation of the new officer," Caruso said.
The ship will arrive at 8:30 tomorrow morning and be open for free tours daily from 3 to 6 p.m. until Monday.
While here, the cadets will lay a wreath at the National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, visit the Arizona Memorial, and pay tribute at Schofield Barracks to Italian soldiers who died while interned here in World War II. The cadets also will visit sculptures at Sand Island and a water fountain at Fort Shafter built by Italian soldiers in 1944.
But Caruso said the young sailors, many visiting Hawai'i for the first time, also will have fun here.
"They need to know other people, meet other people and to exchange ideas and to grow," Caruso said.
The Amerigo Vespucci will leave Tuesday for Christmas Island and Tahiti before heading to New Zealand, where it will remain until next spring.
