Carlo Pellion di Persano

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Contemporary photograph of Persano as an admiral, ca.1860

Carlo Pellion conte di Persano (born March 11, 1806 in Vercelli , † July 28, 1883 in Turin ) was an Italian admiral and Minister of the Navy .

As a Sardinian frigate captain, Persano undertook an unsuccessful attack against the Austrians in Caorle with some Venetian ships in 1848 , in 1851 he let the ship run aground in front of the port of Genoa with Piedmont's contribution to the world exhibition and after two years later he was on the way with the royal family stranded on a hunting trip, he was arrested and demoted for six months. However, none of this could prevent his career and so he was entrusted with the supreme command of the navy from 1860 to 1861 during the siege of Messina and Gaeta and the bombardment of Ancona . Elected to the chamber by Spezia , he took over the naval ministry under Prime Minister Urbano Rattazzi (March to December 1862) and was appointed to the Senate on October 8, 1865 .

Battle of Lissa

Carlo Pellion di Persano.

Persano was again entrusted with the management of the fleet in the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. In a war plan presented by Naval Minister Agostino Depretis in Ancona on July 15, 1866 , the order was made to attack the Austrian fleet in the Adriatic Sea . The plan also envisaged an attack on the Austrian base on the island of Lissa . Persano ran out of Ancona on July 16, and from July 18 to 20, 1866, fired a total of 34 warships (252 cannons) at the Austrian fortress and port facilities on Lissa. Persano and his subordinate admirals Giovanni Vacca and Giovanni Battista Albini fell out on July 19 because of differing opinions about the ineffective use of artillery near Lissa. This dispute was to have consequences the next day.

When the Italians landed several hundred marines on the morning of July 20, 1866, the Austrian fleet under Admiral Wilhelm Freiherr von Tegetthoff appeared near Lissa. Tegetthoff had 27 warships, including seven older tank frigates (178 cannons in total). Admiral Persano is said to have broken off the landing operations with the words "Here are the fishermen ...". The crews of the Austrian warships consisted for the most part of experienced Venetian seamen (also from the later Croatian Dalmatia ; cf. surnames of the seamen) who received their orders (also from Tegetthoff, who was trained in Venice) in the Venetian dialect . On the other hand, five years after its inception, the young Italian Navy was still suffering from the inconsistent composition of its staff (which spoke many different dialects) and the rivalries between officers from different schools .

Persano divided his fleet into three units. During the battle , Persano switched from his flagship Re d'Italia , which was unable to maneuver due to a damaged rudder, to the new armored ship Affondatore , which caused considerable confusion. In the further course Persano could not prevent that two of his three squadrons did not intervene in the fight. Rear Admiral Giovanni Vacca's arbitrariness brought his squadron too far from the action and Albini's formation remained directly in front of Lissa. Tegetthoff and his main body attacked the medium-sized Italian squadron under Persano. During the fight against one of three Italian squadrons, Tegetthoff sank a total of two warships, the Re d'Italia and the Palestro , which came to her aid , whose ammunition chamber exploded as a result of the Austrian bombardment. Towards the end of the fight the Austrian emperor caught fire. Persano tried to ram the damaged Austrian ship with his Affondatore , which was built in England , but failed at the outset due to a lack of experience with his new ironclad.

Persano tried shortly thereafter to launch a counterattack with his strongest ships. Since he had changed flagship, several of his ship commanders were unaware of his new orders. Later, for some inexplicable reason, he gave up the still possible counterattack of his three squadrons, for which he still had over eight hours of daylight. The naval battle of Lissa ended on July 20, 1866 around noon with the sinking of two of the 34 Italian warships. A third sank three days later in Ancona due to the damage suffered during the battle.

The main reasons for the Italian defeat at Lissa were the initial dispersed position of the Italian ships during landing operations, the insistence on conventional naval warfare, a. Inconsistent combat management caused by disputes and misunderstandings, Persano's change of flagship and the associated interruption of the chain of command and, in particular, the renunciation of a counterattack.

Persano was not directly to blame in all respects, but as fleet commander he was responsible for the actions of his units. On April 15, 1867, he was removed from office and rank by the Senate after a downright process. Since then he has lived in Turin .

Carlo Pellion di Persano died in Turin on July 28, 1883.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Gilmour: In Search of Italy . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-608-94929-2 , p. 240 .
personal data
SURNAME Persano, Carlo Pellion di
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Persano, Carlo Pellion conte di
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian admiral and politician, member of the Camera dei Deputati and Minister of the Navy
DATE OF BIRTH March 11, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Vercelli
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 1883
Place of death Turin