Orbetello

42°26'18"N 011°13'02"E

runway: n/a - 0000x00m - water

Orbetello airfield (Italian: Italian: l'idroscalo Orbetello, also known as l'idroscalo "A. Brunetta" and later l'idroscalo "Italo Balbo") name was a seaplane base 120 kilometers northwest of Rome
The airfield was built before World War I as a Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) seaplane base. It consisted of six hangars, slides and jetties, but was expanded after control of the base transfered to the Italian Aeronautics Commision and from there to the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force). Under Air Force control it became the headquarters of a coastal command bomb group.
In 1928 the base was the starting point for the Italian Air Forces Western Mediterranean Cruise, passing through Cagliari, Pollenza (Balearic Islands), Los Alcazares (Cartagena), Port Alfaques ( Tortosa), Berra (Marseille) and finally Orbetello. The cruise, led by Undersecretary of the Air Italo Balbo, covered 2800 kilometers and involved 61 planes, most of them single engine S59bis seaplanes. 
The success of the cruise led to a Eastern Mediterranean Cruise a year later, passing Taranto and then on to Athens, Istanbul, Varna, Odessa, Constanta, and the final leg returning to Orbetello. This cruise covered 4600 kilometers in 35 aircraft and was attended by the Deputy Chief of Staff General Francesco De Pinedo. 
On 17 December 1930 the Italians made their first Atlantic Cruise. 14 S55 seaplanes with 56 crewmen led by Italo Balbo (by now Minister of Aeronautics) and chief of the armed forces Joseph Valle flew on a mission to Cartagena, Kenitra, Villa Cisneros, Bolama, Port Natal, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro as the final destination. The trip, covering 9200 kilometers in total, involved flying a single leg of 3000 kilometers over the Atlantic Ocean.
To put that in perspective: this involved moving an entire squadron of aircraft over the Atlantic non-stop only 3 years after Charles Lindbergh had first done so.
In April 1931 Ortobello became the Scuola della N.A.D.A.M (Navigazione Aerea di Alto Mare, or the School of Air Navigation of the High Seas).
In the summer of 1933 the base was the starting point for yet another Atlantic cruise. This time the wing would cross the North Atlantic, stopping at Amsterdam-Schellingwoude, Londonderry, Reykjavik, Cartwright, Shediac, Montreal, Chicago, New-York, Shediac, Shoal Harbour, the Azores, Lisbon and finally Ostia near Rome. In about 100 hours flight time they had covered 20,000 kilometers.


18 Savoia-Marchetti S.55 neatly lined up in preparation for the South Atlantic Cruise of 1930-1931 (finn.it).


Balbo (center) and his crews posing in front of a Savoia-Marchetti S.55X before departure for the North Atlantic Cuise in 1933 (finn.it).

Ortobello was renamed after Italo Balbo after his death near Tobruk in Northern Africa in 1942. During the war several large hangars were built to the east of the seaplane base. The base was destroyed by attacks of Allied bombers, but mostly by the Germans in 1944.
An inspection report on the airfield of 18 October 1948 by Command III ZAT documented that only the appendages to the hangars remained usable. Most of the airport had been systematically destroyed by the Germans.


The damage done to Orbetello airfield, photographed at the end of the war (ImageShack.us)

The former seaplane base, now known as Parco delle Crociere (Cruiser Park), is semi-abandoned. A football (soccer) field on the east side is only used for training by the local sportsclub, as it has no facilities of its own. The slipways and docks are used by the local Orbetello rowing club (Società Canottieri Orbetello). The hangar complex on the east side was completely built over with a new neighbourhood, with only the quay walls remaining. The remainder of the complex is abandoned.


The area of the former seaplane base Orbetello in 2008 (Google Earth)

A good set of photos from the site, comparing pre- and post-war photos, can be viewed here (translation by Google).

'Mille grazie!' to Mr. Francesco Presenti, author of "Quando Orbetello aveva le ali ed i capolavori architettonici di Pier Luigi Nervi" (in Italian) for correcting some of my errors.