Lagunari Regiment "Serenissima"

In 1550 the Republic of Venice raised embarked troops for the Venetian fleet, which were named Fanti da Mar (Infantry of the Sea). Present on all Venetian ships the Fanti da Mar were disbanded after the Fall of the Republic of Venice.[4][5]

In 1848 the revolutions erupted in the Italian states and in Venice Daniele Manin declared the Republic of San Marco. The cities of the former Republic of Venice raised volunteer units to fight the Austrian forces, which occupied the region. One such force were the Cacciatori del Sile, a light infantry unit formed by the cities of Treviso and Padua and named for the Sile river, which straddles the Venetian Lagoon. On 21 October 1848 the unit moved through the Venetian Lagoon to attack Austrian forces on the Cavallino peninsula. After routing the Austrians the unit returned to its base in Venice-Lido, where on 23 October General Guglielmo Pepe honored the unit with a visit. In 1849 the Austrians subjugated the city and dissolved the Cacciatori del Sile.[5]

After the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866 the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to cede what it still held of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia to the Second French Empire, which in turn ceded it to the Kingdom of Italy. With Italy now in possession of Venice it garrisoned the city with Royal Italian Army forces, which included the 14th Sappers Company of the army's Sappers Corps. On 1 January 1874 the corps was split into the 1st Engineer Regiment and 2nd Engineer Regiment. In 1877 the 14th Sappers Company, which was tasked with providing transport for military forces in the Venetian Lagoon, was renamed 14th Lagunari Company.[6][5]

In 1883 the 2nd Engineer Regiment ceded four Pontieri companies, one train company, and the 14th Lagunari Company in Venice, to help form the 4th Engineer Regiment (Pontieri) in Piacenza. By 1887 the regiment included a Lagunari Brigade, which consisted of the 9th and 10th Lagunari companies, which had been formed by splitting the 14th Lagunari Company. In 1910 the brigades were renamed battalions.[6][5]

During World War I the 4th Engineer Regiment (Pontieri) formed an additional six Lagunari companies, which operated on the extreme right flank of the Italian front in the estuaries of the Isonzo and Timavo river. After the Battle of Caporetto and the Italian retreat to the Piave river the companies operated in the Piave estuary and along the Sile river.[6][5]

On 28 August 1918 the 8th Engineer Regiment (Lagunari) was formed in Ferrara and all Laguanri companies were transferred to the regiment. The regiment consisted of a command, the I Lagunari Battalion in Venice with the 9th, 15th, 20th, and 23rd company, and the II Lagunari Battalion with the 10th, 21st, 22nd, and 24th company in Ferrara. In October 1918 the regiment formed the 1st Train Company and the same month the regiment's companies were heavily engaged in the Piave delta during the Battle of Vittorio Veneto. In November 1918 the regiment moved to Venice, where it was disbanded on 21 November 1919. The last remaining battalion of the regiment with two Lagunari companies returned on the same date to the 4th Engineer Regiment (Pontieri), which was renamed Pontieri and Lagunari Engineer Regiment.[6][7][5]

On 1 March 1926 the regiment changed its name to Pontieri and Lagunari Regiment. On 15 May 1933 the regiment was split into the 1st Pontieri Regiment (Light Bridges) and 2nd Pontieri Regiment (Heavy Bridges). The 1st Pontieri Regiment was based in Verona and received the II Pontieri Battalion in Verona, IV Pontieri Battalion in Rome, and V Lagunari Battalion in Venice. The new regiment formed these units into two Pontieri battalions, with each battalion also fielding two Lagunari companies. On 1 October 1938 the Lagunari companies were disbanded and their personnel merged into the regiment's bridge companies.[8][5]

On 15 January 1951 the Italian Armed Forces began the formation of a command in Venice Lido, which was named Lagunari Forces Sector (Italian: Settore Forze Lagunari) and assigned to the V Army Corps. The command was a mixed Italian Army-Italian Navy formation under the command of navy Counter admiral and tasked to defend the coastal lagoons along the Italian coast in the northern Adriatic Sea: the Venetian Lagoon and the Marano Lagoon. On 1 July 1951 a command platoon with navy and army personnel was formed. On 30 August of the same year the Lagoonal Coast Battalion "Marghera" was formed in Malcontenta. The battalion consisted of a command company with personnel from the army and navy, a truck-transported company with army personnel, an amphibious company with navy personnel, and a lagoonal support unit with navy boats and personnel. On 15 October 1951 the Battalion "San Marco" in Villa Vicentina, which consisted of Navy personnel, but was organized as an army infantry battalion, was transferred from the Infantry Division "Folgore" to the Lagunari Forces Sector.[1][4][5]

On 1 September 1952 the Lagoonal Coast Battalion "Piave" was formed in Mestre with the same organization as the Marghera battalion. On 1 January 1954 the landing vehicles and boats of the Lagunari Forces Sector were merged into the Naval Landing Craft Group, which on 15 January 1956 was renamed Naval Vehicles Group. On 1 March 1956 the command of the sector was assigned to a colonel of the Italian Army and the process of detaching the navy component from the sector began. On 1 July the 1957 the Battalion "San Marco" was renamed Lagoonal Coast Battalion "Isonzo" and its enlisted personnel was transferred from the navy to the army.[1][4][5]

By 1 September 1957 the Lagunari Forces Sector had lost all navy personnel and was renamed Lagoonal Grouping (Italian: Raggruppamento Lagunare). The grouping consisted of a command, a command company, a training company, a signal company, the amphibious battalions "Marghera", "Piave", and "Isonzo", the Naval Vehicles Group, and from 1 February 1958 also the Motorized Battalion "Adria", with two reserve truck-transported companies and one active amphibious company. On 1 May 1958 the army formed the Lagoonal Support Unit with armored and amphibious vehicles.[1][4][5]

On 25 October 1959 the grouping was presented Colours and on 24 May 1964 the grouping was reorganized and renamed Lagunari Regiment "Serenissima" and was granted the traditions of the Venetian Fanti da Mar and the Engineer Lagunari. The regiment now consisted of a command, a command company, the battalions "Marghera", "Piave", and "Isonzo", which were equipped with M113 armored personnel carriers, and the XXII Tank Battalion, which was equipped with M47 Patton tanks and had been formed with the personnel of the Lagoonal Support Unit. In 1964 the Naval Vehicles Group was disbanded and its equipment returned to the navy and each battalion of the regiment formed an amphibious vehicles platoon and a boats platoon. With the amphibious vehicle platoons and the boat platoons of the battalions "Marghera" and "Piave" and the regiment's watercrafts platoon based on the island of Sant'Andrea an Amphibious Transports Company was formed, which was based in Cà Vio and on Sant'Andrea.[1][4][5]

During the 1975 army reform the Italian Army disbanded the regimental level and newly independent battalions were granted Colours for the first time. As first step of the reorganization of the regiment the Battalion "Marghera" in Malcontenta was disbanded on 1 September 1975. On 20 October 1975 the Lagunari Regiment "Serenissima" was disbanded and its personnel used to form the Amphibious Troops Command. On the same date the remaining units of the regiment were reorganized and renamed: the Command Company and Signal Company were merged to form the command's Command and Signal Company. The Battalion "Isonzo" in Villa Vicentina was renamed 41st Mechanized Infantry Battalion "Modena", while and the XXII Tank Battalion in San Vito al Tagliamento was renamed 22nd Tank Battalion "M.O. Piccinini". Both battalions were assigned to the Mechanized Brigade "Gorizia", when that brigade was activated on 1 November 1975. Still on 20 October 1975 the Amphibious Transports Company in Sant'Andrea and Ca' Vio was reorganized and renamed Amphibious Vehicles Battalion "Sile", while the Battalion "Piave" in Mestre was renamed 1st Lagunari Battalion "Serenissima" and assigned the flag and traditions of the Lagunari Regiment "Serenissima".[1][4][5] The battalion consisted of a command, a command and services company, three mechanized companies with M113 armored personnel carriers, and a heavy mortar company with M106 mortar carriers with 120mm Mod. 63 mortars.[9]

On 25 October 1975 the flag of the Lagunari Regiment "Serenissima" was transferred to the 1st Lagunari Battalion "Serenissima" in a ceremony on Piazza San Marco in Venice. After the reform the Amphibious Troops Command was assigned to the Mechanized Division "Folgore". When the division was disbanded on 31 October 1986 the command was assigned once again to the 5th Army Corps.[1][4][5]

On 25 June 1984 the Lagunari became a distinct speciality within the Italian Army's infantry arm.[1][4] On 26 August 1984 the Italian Armed Forces' Military Vicar Gaetano Bonicelli declared Saint Mark the Evangelist as patron saint of the new speciality.[5]

On 13 October 1992 the 1st Lagunari Battalion "Serenissima" lost its autonomy and the next day the battalion entered the reformed Lagunari Regiment "Serenissima" as I Lagunari Battalion. The reformed regiment also included the personnel and materiel of the disbanded Amphibious Vehicles Battalion "Sile" and consisted of a command, a command and services company, a naval vehicles company, and the I Lagunari Battalion.[1][4]

In 2007 the Lagunari Regiment "Serenissima" and the navy's Regiment "San Marco" became part of the Italian Armed Forces' Sea Projection Force. Until 2011 the Lagunari wore the infantry's black beret with a badge of a sea anchor over two rifles, which was replaced in that year by a "lagoon green" beret.[1]