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Luigi Ferraro (3 November 1914, Quarto dei Mille – 5 January 2006, Genoa) was an officer of the Royal Italian Navy and pioneer of Italian submarine warfare, most notable for his service with the commando frogman unit Decima Flottiglia MAS.^[1] In 1943 in Turkey he attacked four ships carrying chromium ore.^[2] He was decorated with the gold medal for military valor for having sunk three enemy ships alone.^[3]^: 5

Ferraro designed a number of innovations in scuba diving equipment for Cressi-sub, and in 1962 with Carlos Reinberg, he founded Technisub, a manufacturer of various underwater diving equipment.^[4]

Cressi made and launched Luigi Ferraro's two most important innovations during the early 1950s. One was the "Pinocchio" diving mask, the first mask with a rubber nose pocket enabling the fingers to pinch the nostrils, facilitating ear equalization. The other was the Cressi Rondine, the first swimming fin featuring a closed-heel foot pocket, a toe opening and a blade set at an angle from the plane of the sole of the foot, which improved both wearing comfort and hydrodynamic efficiency.

References

^ Pannullo, Antonio (5 January 2016). "10 anni fa l'addio a Luigi Ferraro, incursore della X Mas e pioniere del sub". secoloditalia.it (in Italian). Retrieved 11 May 2016.
^ "A man | Luigi Ferraro". www.luigiferraro.it. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
^ Zamorani, Massimo (2013). Luigi Ferraro. Un eroe del mare. Mursia. ISBN 978-88-425-3159-3.
^ "Inventor and Entrepreneur". www.luigiferraro.it. Retrieved 7 November 2019.