Chapter · 2:15-3:04

De Courten's early naval career

Raffaele de Courten's early career included battleship service, capture during the Città di Jesi airship raid on Pola, and a naval attaché posting in Germany.

Airships Austro Hungarian Empire Citta Di Jesi Destroyer Flotillas Germany Italian Battleship Benedetto Brin Italian Battleship Vittorio Emanuele Italian Navy Naval Academies Naval Attaches Naval Aviation Naval Staff Pola Naval Base Prisoners Of War Raffaele De Courten Regia Marina Submarine Flotillas World War I

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Notes

De Courten entered the Italian Naval Academy in 1906 and graduated in 1910. He served aboard the battleships Vittorio Emanuele and Benedetto Brin before joining the naval air arm just before the First World War. He was captured during a bombardment of Pola from the airship Città di Jesi. He remained a prisoner of Austria-Hungary until 1917. His postwar assignments included naval staff duties and command of destroyer and submarine flotillas. He served as naval attaché in Germany from 1933 to 1936 and was promoted to rear admiral in 1938.