The or or ("
superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of the fleet") was a senior official and admiral of the
Venetian navy. After the establishment of a sailing fleet () next to the traditional
galley
A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...
fleet () in the late 17th century, he was the most senior squadron admiral of the latter.
Until the
Battle of Lepanto
The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...
in 1571, the office was occupied by two holders, but thereafter this was usually disregarded as it was considered sufficient to appoint a single holder. When the Venetian fleet acquired
ships 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 colum ...
in the late 17th century, the remained as the senior of the admirals () who led the squadrons of the galley fleet (), which stood under the overall command of the , along with the
Captain of the Gulf
The Captain of the Gulf ( vec, Capitan del Golfo; it, Capitano in/del Golfo) was a senior naval command of the Republic of Venice.
The post was established around 1330, when a squadron of ships was set up to patrol the "Gulf of Venice" (as the Ad ...
, the and the . Like all , he hoisted his ensign on a
bastard galley, with striped red-and-white sails and tents. As his distinctive signs, the flagship of the carried a single lantern and the
standard of Saint Mark
The Flag of the Republic of Venice, commonly known as the Banner or Standard of Saint Mark (''stendardo di San Marco''), was the symbol of the Republic of Venice, until its dissolution in 1797.
Its main charge was the Lion of Saint Mark, symboli ...
on a three-foot long staff topped by a "simple" gilded orb aft, a pennant in front, and square ensign of Saint Mark on the mainmast. In later times, the was allowed to show two lanterns aft.
References
Sources
*
* {{cite book , last = Nani Mocenigo , first = Mario , title = Storia della marina veneziana: da Lepanto alla caduta della Repubblica , trans-title = History of the Venetian navy: from Lepanto to the fall of the Republic , language = Italian , year = 1935 , publisher = Tipo lit. Ministero della Marina - Uff. Gabinetto , location = Rome , url = http://asa.archiviostudiadriatici.it/islandora/object/libria%3A1245
Military ranks of the Venetian navy
Republic of Venice admirals