Augusto Riboty ( Puget-Théniers, 29 November 1816 – 9 February 1888) was an Italian admiral and Minister of the Navy.

Early life and career

Born in the County of Nice, he enrolled in 1830 in the Navy School of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, graduating in 1835. In 1848 he participated, on the brig ''Colombo'', in the

First Italian War of Independence The First Italian War of Independence ( it, Prima guerra d'indipendenza italiana), part of the Italian Unification (''Risorgimento''), was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other ...

; he also saw service in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

while serving on the screw frigate ''Carlo Alberto''. He took part in the

Second War of Italian Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...

as commander of the paddle sloop ''Monzambano''. In 1860, promoted to the rank of frigate captain (''capitano di fregata'') of the newly born Italian ("Royal Navy"), Riboty was named head of the Navy School of Genoa, which he led until 1864. He was afterwards promoted to ''Capitano di Vascello'' and served as chief of staff to the ''Squadra di Evoluzione'' (Squadron of Evolution), the active squadron of the Italian Navy meant to provide experience and training with the new fleet-sized maneuvers; as such, he participated in the multinational intervention in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

in 1864, protecting foreign property and subjects during a revolt. When the squadron was deactivated, he served again as head of the Genoese school, as well as that of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. In 1866 Riboty was named commander of the new

ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...

screw frigate , in which he participated in the Third Italian War of Independence. At the Battle of Lissa, he gallantly led his ship, and inflicted serious damage to the screw

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

; his actions were praised by all his superiors, and he was awarded the

Gold Medal of Military Valour The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The fac ...

. Promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

, he led the naval forces that contributed to the repression of a revolt in Palermo in September 1866. Riboty took command of the active naval squadron in 1867.

Minister of the Navy

Riboty was appointed by Prime Minister

Luigi Federico Menabrea Luigi Federico Menabrea (4 September 1809 – 24 May 1896), later made 1st Count Menabrea and 1st Marquess of Valdora, was an Italian general, statesman and mathematician who served as the seventh prime minister of Italy from 1867 to 1869. B ...

Minister of the Navy Minister of the Navy may refer to: * Minister of the Navy (France) * Minister of the Navy (Italy) The Italian Minister of the Navy ( it, Ministri della Marina del Regno) was a member in the Council Ministers until 1947, when the ministry merged ...

in January 1868; at the time, the navy was suffering from the backlash of the defeat at Lissa and the precarious financial situation of Italy, resulting in considerable budget cuts which impaired naval buildings, the activity of the ships and the training. One of his first acts was to slash the plethoric number of admirals and high-ranking officers, putting several of them on the retired list; to avoid controversy, he put himself on the retired list, thus ending his own career for the benefit of the navy. With his experience as head of the naval schools, Riboty proposed the creation of a single Naval Academy (a suggestion already put forward by

Carlo Pellion di Persano Count Carlo Pellion di Persano (11 March 1806 – 28 July 1883) was an Italian naval officer and politician, who was commander of the ''Regia Marina'' fleet at the 1866 Battle of Lissa. Persano was born at Vercelli in the Kingdom of Sardinia ...

), to address the regionalistic spirit that still lingered among the officers, and which had had negative effects at Lissa; however, this was not followed through, and he only managed to unify the Genoese and Neapolitan schools as a single entity. An unified academy would be achieved only by Benedetto Brin in 1882. He unsuccessfully attempted to put forward a proposal for an organic plan for the navy in 1869, which was refused because of its costs; he also founded the ''Rivista Marittima'' (the still-existing monthly journal of the

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

(''Marina Militare''), and in 1869 sent a squadron to the inauguration of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

. When the Menabrea ministry ended in December 1869, Riboty left his position as Minister, only to be reappointed by the new Prime Minister Giovanni Lanza in September 1871. In December 1870 he was appointed a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. His efforts to renovate the fleet bore fruit in 1872, when the Parliament authorized new expenses for new ships; in 1873, the two revolutionary ironclad ships of the , designed by Riboty's collaborator Benedetto Brin, were laid down.

Later life and death

Riboty retired to private life. He died at

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

on 9 February 1888.

Legacy

A scout cruiser (later reclassified as a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

) of the was named after Riboty. She served in both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World war II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was scrapped in 1951.

References

* Mariano Gabriele, ''Augusto Riboty'', Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare, 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Riboty, Augusto Italian admirals 1816 births 1888 deaths 19th-century Italian military personnel Italian Ministers of the Navy