Camillo Corsi ( Rome, 13 May 1860 - Rome, 17 July 1921) was an Italian

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

and politician. He served as

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 ...

of the Kingdom of Italy in the second Salandra government and the

Boselli government The Boselli government of Italy held office from 18 June 1916 until 30 October 1917, a total of 499 days, or 1 year, 4 months and 12 days. Government parties The government was composed by the following parties: Composition References {{G ...

Early life

Corsi was the son of Tito Corsi and his wife Teresa Mazzetti. He enrolled at the ''Scuola di marina'' in 1874 and embarked on a naval career when he graduated in 1879. He took part in the

Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889 The Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889 was an undeclared war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ethiopian Empire occurring during the Italian colonization of Eritrea. The conflict ended with a treaty of friendship, which delimited the border ...

as a ''tenente'' ( lieutenant. In 1905 he was made chief of staff of

Carlo Mirabello Carlo Mirabello (Tortona, 17 November 1847 – Milan, 24 March 1910) was an Italian admiral and politician. He served as Minister of the Navy in five successive governments of the Kingdom of Italy. Early naval career Mirabello entered the Royal ...

, where he assisted with the task of modernising and developing the Italian '' Regia Marina'' ("Royal Navy"). He was also editor of the '' Rivista Marittima'' for several years. He saw service in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, initially as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, though he was 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 ...

in 1911 and also served as deputy chief of staff of the navy under

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Leone Viale. He distinguished himself in the occupation of several islands in the Aegean Sea and the assault on the Ottoman forts in the Dardanelles. In 1914 he was made commander of the Royal Naval Academy, and in 1915, when Italy entered the World War I, he was appointed commander of the First Naval squadron, with the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

as is

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

, as well as chief of staff of the fleet.

Political career

Visit of Navy Minister Camillo Corsi from Grado to Passo Rolle

On 24 September 1915 Navy Minister Leone Viale resigned following prolonged disagreements between Navy Chief of Staff Paolo Thaon di Revel and the commander-in-chief of the fleet, the Duke of Abruzzi, over the conduct of the naval war. A few days later the battleship blew up in the harbour of

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

in what was thought to be an act of Austrio-Hungarian sabotage. Prime Minister Salandra invited Corsi to join his cabinet, replacing Viale as Navy Minister. Corsi supported the ideas of the Duke of Abruzzi, so just 11 days after his appointment as minister, Thaon di Revel also resigned. Thereafter Corsi combined his former post with his cabinet role. This arrangement was intended to streamline command and reduce the tensions and disagreements that had plagued the navy since it entered the war. Soon after his ministerial appointment he was also sworn in as a

senator of the Kingdom of Italy The Senate of the Kingdom of Italy () was the upper house of the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, officially created on 4 March 1848, acting as an evolution of the original Subalpine Senate. It was replaced on 1 January 1948 by the ...

. Although he served as a minister for nearly two years, the experiment of combining his cabinet role with a naval one was not judged a success, and in June 1917 Thaon Di Revel returned to his former post as navy chief of staff, while his protégé Arturo Triangi took over as minister. Corsi returned to active naval service, and in 1918 he was moved to an auxiliary role.

Honours

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corsi, Camillo 1860 births 1921 deaths People from Rome Italian admirals Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Ministers of the navy of Italy