Manoscritto - Umberto II di Savoia – Decreto Luogotenenziale originale 1944 con firma – Regia Marina – Regno - 1944

Important official document of the Kingdom of Italy found in an antique cabinet, dated Rome, December 28, 1944, issued during the Regency of Prince Umberto of Savoy, future Umberto II, last King of Italy.

Umberto of Savoy – Original decree of December 28, 1944 with signature – Admiral Battista Tanca
Rare and significant official document of the Kingdom of Italy, dated Rome, December 28, 1944, issued by Umberto of Savoy, Prince of Piedmont and Lieutenant General of the Kingdom, during one of the most complex and decisive periods in 20th-century Italian history.

The decree concerns Battista Tanca, Squadron Admiral in the auxiliary of the Royal Navy, and provides for his retirement effective from October 28, 1943, with entry into the reserve.

The document bears the heading:
UMBERTO DI SAVOIA
PRINCE OF PIEDMONTE
LIEUTENANT GENERAL OF THE KINGDOM
and recalls the regulations relating to civil and military pensions, specifying that the measure is taken on the proposal of the Minister Secretary of State for the Navy.
Of particular historical and collector’s interest is the large signature “Umberto di Savoia” present at the bottom of the decree, alongside the date 28 DEC. 1944.

The historical context
The document belongs to the period of the Regency of the Kingdom, begun in June 1944, when Vittorio Emanuele III transferred the exercise of the royal prerogatives to his son Umberto.
Umberto di Savoy thus exercised the functions of Lieutenant General of the Kingdom in an exceptional phase: Italy was still divided by war, Rome had been liberated a few months earlier, and the country was undergoing the difficult transition from fascist monarchy and wartime events toward the new political and institutional framework that would lead to the referendum of June 2, 1946.

Umberto would later become Umberto II, the last King of Italy, reigning from May 9 to June 18, 1946.
Therefore the decree represents not only an administrative document relating to the career of a high naval officer, but a direct testimony of monarchic Italy during the final phase of World War II.

The recipient: Admiral Battista Tanca
The measure takes on further interest given the recipient’s rank: Battista Tanca is explicitly indicated as Squadron Admiral in the auxiliary, one of the highest ranks in the Italian naval hierarchy.
The combination of House of Savoy, Royal Navy, World War II, and high military rank makes the document especially intriguing for collectors of historical autographs, militaria, royal documents, Italian naval history, and memorabilia of the Savoy monarchy.

Characteristics
Type: original official decree
Authority: Umberto di Savoia
Title: Prince of Piedmont – Lieutenant General of the Kingdom
Place: Rome
Date: December 28, 1944
Recipient: Squadron Admiral Battista Tanca
Subject: retirement and entry into the reserve
Historical period: Kingdom of Italy – World War II – Regency of the Kingdom
Signature: Umberto di Savoia

Collecting scope: House of Savoy, Italian Monarchy, Royal Navy, militaria, autographs and historical documents.
Original document from the period preserved in the conditions visible in the photographs. Any stamps, annotations, and natural signs of time are part of its documentary history.

Tracked shipment.
The cover is only an example; the document is the one in the second photo, as described."