Military rope production plant - Castellammare di Stabia

The Castellammare di Stabia Military Rope Production Plant traces its origins to the manual activities associated with the local Royal Arsenal, established in 1773 at the behest of Ferdinand IV, King of Naples, on the site where boats and small sailing vessels had been repaired and built for over two centuries. The promising shipbuilding results prompted the Bourbon authorities to expand the shipyard’s operations, building a workshop specialized in the production of ropes, essential for sailing navigation. The new facility was opened in 1796 and named the Castellammare Corderia. Although the business began as an artisanal enterprise with limited resources, it quickly gained a certain amount of recognition, offering a range of high-quality finished products that met maritime needs. The establishment’s prestige was such that, once the Kingdom of Italy was established, the Corderia was included among the entities of the Royal Navy. Thus, thanks to continuous quantitative and qualitative improvements, production benefited from significant technological progress, creating a point of excellence. The hemp cables and products manufactured by the Corderia began to gain a distinctive character not only in Italy but also beyond the borders. The quality of the production lines and finished products also benefited from the increasingly widespread use of electrified systems and a motorized industrial system, ensuring ever-increasing specialization and precision for the workforce. Continuing its path of constant adaptability to the new infrastructural and operational needs of the naval Armed Forces, in the 1920s the factory became the Work Plant and Corderia of the Royal Navy. Technological improvements continued, leading to the design and installation of a machine designed to pull strands and weave cables. It’s no coincidence that the electromechanical track jointing system became the factory’s strong point, unique in its kind (so much so that it still exists today) and impeccably designed. Its location within the Royal Arsenal ended in April 1939, when the shipbuilding activity in Castellamare di Stabia was privatized and sold to Società Navalmeccanica – Stabilimenti Navali e Meccanici Napoletani S.p.A. During this industrial transition, the Corderia remained the property of the Royal Navy, thus continuing to develop its work, focusing on the highest standards of craftsmanship, within a purely military context. This led to the Second World War, during which the factory continued its production activities. This occurred despite its delicate geographic position astride the front during the critical weeks following the proclamation of the armistice on September 8, 1943. In those hours of great institutional chaos, great commitment and sacrifice were also made by resistance groups, made up of soldiers from various Italian Armed Forces, formed specifically to prevent the Germans from seizing the units stationed at Castellamare di Stabia. After fierce and valiant fighting, the improvised Italian command accepted the German offer of negotiations, a ploy used by the Germans to set a trap. Lieutenant Commander Domenico Baffigo, commander of the resistance group, was treacherously captured and shot, earning him the Gold Medal for Military Valor. Not content with their crimes, the retreating German troops ultimately carried out fires and devastation before finally leaving the Gulf of Naples area. In the postwar period, the Corderia continued its specific production activity, now dependent on the Navy, once the Italian Republic was proclaimed. This situation remained unchanged until 2001, when it was transferred to the Defense Industries Agency, with the aim of being able to adapt beyond the usual and traditional domestic military market to a growing civilian market rich in commercial opportunities. Thus, in the new millennium, the Military Cordage Production Plant specialized, among other things, in the production of a whole range of cables and marine equipment, servicing, testing, and certifying all types of fiber materials (natural or artificial) for naval use. For example, each year the Castellamare workshops supply over 400 km of cordage to the Navy, which, among other things, supplies the equipment for the training sailing ships Amerigo Vespucci and Palinuro.