The Bourbon Navy
The Bourbon Navy
As with all other aspects, regarding the fundamental matter of the armed forces, we draw our information from: *Mostra delle armi ed uniformi napolitane 1734-1860*, Museo Principe Gaetano Filangieri, Naples April 15 – June 30, 1969, Catalogue edited by the Organizing Committee, Museo Filangieri, Naples 1969, pp. 9 et seq.; *Il Real Collegio Militare della Nunziatella, Mostra documentaria (maggio 2000-aprile 2001)*, edited by G. CATENACCI, Naples 2000, and also edited by G. CATENACCI, *La Nunziatella nella storia*, Associazione Nazionale ex Allievi Nunziatella, Naples 2000. See also: R.M. SELVAGGI, *Nomi e volti di un esercito dimenticato*, Grimaldi & c. editori, Naples 1990. The event that led to the establishment of a true national army was the accession to the throne of Charles of Bourbon in 1734, although in the first decades the core of the forces consisted of the gift made to his son by Philip V of half the Spanish army and almost all the artillery (about 30,000 men between infantry and cavalry; after the conquest of the Kingdom, about 18,000 remained).
Charles immediately purchased three galleys from Pope Clement XII which, together with a fourth built in Naples (the “Capitana”), formed the first squadron and gave impetus to the Naples Arsenal, which was specifically enlarged to build the future great fleet.
In 1738, construction began on the “S. Carlo” and the “Partenope”, as well as the feluccas “Purissima Concezione” and “S. Gennaro”. In 1748, construction of other ships was resumed, such as the “Regina”, the “Concezione”, the “S. Amalia”, the “S. Antonio”, and others.
Warships were divided into two classes with two special categories of officers: the “Esquadra de los reales navios”, composed of a ship of the line and a frigate, and the “Esquadra de galeras”, comprising galleys and galeotes. Xebecs were part of this second class [Cf. *Mostra delle armi ed uniformi napolitane 1734-1860*, Museo Principe Gaetano Filangieri, Naples April 15 – June 30, 1969, Catalogue edited by the Organizing Committee, Museo Filangieri, Naples 1969, p. 9].
Furthermore, to ensure the safety of his subjects, Charles did not neglect diplomatic treaties with the Sultan of Constantinople, on whom the regencies of Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers depended, even though in practice the Barbary raids continued as before; to which Charles began to respond with force, and from that moment the raids began to decrease, almost disappearing.
After Charles’s departure for Madrid, the Regency Council, led by Tanucci, effectively neglected naval policy, but Ferdinand did not do so when he assumed full powers.
He immediately understood the need to strengthen the Naval Army, both to protect his subjects and maritime trade; he was aided in his policy by the English Prime Minister John Acton, who later also became Minister of War and the Navy, due to his extraordinary expertise as a seaman. Together they prepared an ambitious plan that focused on the development of shipbuilding and naval construction.
In a short time, 6 ships of the line with 74 guns and 6 frigates with 32/40 guns were built. Furthermore, in addition to the existing one in Naples, a new and more efficient arsenal was built at Castellammare di Stabia between the woods of Mount Faito and the mineral water springs: it was one of the first in the Mediterranean in terms of size and was equipped with three imposing slipways, which allowed for the simultaneous laying down of as many large ships. An impressive machine with ten winches, each manned by thirty-six men—considered a true marvel at the time—allowed ships of any tonnage to be easily hauled ashore.
Arturo Faraone writes: “It was a true ‘model shipyard’ for the time: the new technical processes of the early Industrial Revolution were employed, and thus highly qualified local workers were trained, gaining fame as excellent shipbuilders. Under the Bourbon dynasty, some of the most modern and fastest naval units of the time were launched from the Castellammare Shipyard, such as the frigates Partenope, Ercole, Archimede, Carlo III, Sannita, and Ettore Fieramosca, equipped with 300-horsepower engines.”
In the twenty-year period from 1840 to 1860 alone, from the launch of the brigantine Generoso to the launch of the mixed frigate Borbone, a total of over 43,000 tons of shipping was launched, including ships of the line, frigates, gunboats, brigantines, and dredgers.
The Castellammare Shipyard continued its glorious activity even after the unification of Italy. It is worth noting that the two training ships of the Italian Navy were launched from the slipways of the glorious Stabian shipyard: the Cristoforo Colombo in 1928 and the Amerigo Vespucci in 1931. The latter still inspires awe and wonder today when it appears in ports around the world during training cruises for officer cadets of the Naval Academy of Livorno.”
[A. FARAONE, *La Real Marina delle Due Sicilie*, presentation on the occasion of the visit to the Institute of Maritime Military Studies by H.R.H. Charles of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria. We are particularly inspired by this work for the present reconstruction].
As proof of the value the fleet was assuming internationally, it is enough to remember that in 1784 it participated together with those of Spain, Malta, and Portugal in a combined action against the Barbary fortifications of Algiers; but above all, it distinguished itself in the Siege of Toulon in 1793: Ferdinand made available to the First Anti-French Coalition three ships of the line (the Guiscardo, the Sannita, and the Tancredi, the latter commanded by Francesco Caracciolo), four frigates (the Aretusa, the Minerva, the Sibilla, and the Sirena), two brigantines, and a contingent of 6,500 men armed with the new 1788 model rifles, who distinguished themselves during the three months of the siege to the point of earning the admiration of Napoleon himself.
The fleet in flames. The reconstruction
The fleet in flames.
The reconstruction
But tragedy was at the door. In previous entries on this site, we reported on the tragic and glorious events that occurred in 1799 (see the entries: “Ferdinand IV” and “The Pro-Bourbon Insurgencies”), which saw, during the war against the Napoleonics, Ferdinand’s loss of the Kingdom within six months (with the birth of the short-lived Parthenopean Republic), and its reconquest by the insurgents following Cardinal Ruffo.
During the course of these overwhelming events, among other misfortunes, it also happened that Ferdinand was convinced by Horatio Nelson (another Englishman at Court besides Acton), present in Naples as a “protecting friend”, to set fire to the entire fleet stationed in Naples and Castellammare, so that it would not fall into the hands of the Napoleonics who were about to enter the capital. The tragic spectacle witnessed by all Neapolitans on January 9, 1799, was never forgotten. In the gulf, suddenly, the entire glorious fleet was in flames before their shocked and heartbroken eyes. One can argue as much as one wants (as has always happened) about the fact that it is standard practice in war to destroy one’s own armaments (and not only those) when they are about to fall into enemy hands: the fact remains that annihilating the fleet of the Kingdom of Naples was certainly an event that enormously benefited British dominance in the Mediterranean, in addition to placing the Kingdom even further under British control.
In any case, as is well known, Ferdinand had to take refuge in Sicily again from 1806 to 1815, and only in that year was he able to return to Naples and resume effective government of the Kingdom, now called the Two Sicilies. He immediately began to reorganize his armed forces (the experience of the last twenty years had left its mark), and in particular the Navy. The first steamship in the Mediterranean was launched on June 24, 1818; the “General Ordinances of the Royal Navy” were then published, regarding the organization of the Sea Army, including general provisions on uniforms. In just four years, the Navy had reached the point of aligning three divisions with about seventy warships of all sizes.
The one who then resumed the maritime military policy was naturally Ferdinand II: the Neapolitan fleet was enriched with steam units (“Nettuno”, “Ferdinando II”, “S. Wenwfrida”), first paddle-wheel and then screw-propelled, thus becoming one of the most powerful in the Mediterranean. In 1856, ships with beam engines were built: “Ferdinando”, “Nettuno”, “Peloro”, and, with the direct connection and oscillating cylinder system, the “Fulminante”, the “Veloce”, the “Saetta”, and the “Messaggero” [Mostra delle armi…, cit., p. 25].
We have seen in the entry dedicated to him all the notable reforms and constructions implemented or initiated by this great sovereign; in this field too, he distinguished himself for his initiative and genius: in 1834, the “Royal Military Mechanical Factory” and the first “School of Mechanical Engineers” in Italy were established at Pietrarsa, to which a factory for marine tools and engines was annexed to arm the Neapolitan steam frigates.
Pietrarsa, with its eight hundred workers, was the leading Italian factory. Furthermore, Ferdinand’s initiatives also encouraged private enterprise: factories such as Guppy & Co., Zino & Henry, and the Pattison shipyards and workshops were born, all located in the Naples area, which would later be used by the Italian Navy after 1861.
Furthermore, Ferdinand II also had the first dry dock in Italy built in the port of Naples. The sea army had meanwhile increased its strength with numerous frigates and paddle-wheel steam frigates with 50 guns, various brigantines, and steam corvettes.
It was composed as follows:
1- Royal Corps of Gunners and Sailors, divided into 16 active boarding companies and two sedentary companies;
2- “Real Marina” Regiment (with a strength of 2,400 men) divided into two battalions of six companies each;
3- Maritime Engineering Corps;
4- Telegraph Corps;
5- Medical Corps;
6- Administrative Corps with three Departments (Naples, Palermo, and Messina).
The supreme body of the Sea Army was the Admiralty, headed by a Prince of Bourbon, brother of the King, General Commander of the Sea Army with the rank of Vice-Admiral, assisted by an Admiralty Council.
The Army also had the opportunity to operate overseas, in Brazil.
Officers were trained at the Royal Naval Academy, founded in 1735, which possessed one of the finest astronomical-nautical observatories in Europe; in 1841, Ferdinand II merged it with the Nunziatella Military Academy, so that future naval officers would be selected from the students of the military college.
In 1848, during the First War of Independence, Ferdinand II sent 5 steam frigates, 2 sailing frigates, 1 brigantine, and various transports with 4,000 soldiers, under the command of Guglielmo Pepe, for the purpose of liberating Venice from the Austrians; but then the revolution of May 15 ruined everything, and the King, as already mentioned in the entry dedicated to him, withdrew from the war.
The ships of the line of the Sea Army generally had two gun decks and one upper deck, and their dimensions ranged from 50 to 60 meters in length and 15-17 in width for a tonnage between 3,000 and 4,500 tons. They were three-masted, armed with 60 or 74 guns, with a crew of 700-800 units, from officers to servants, including chaplains, surgeons, etc.
Frigates generally had two decks, one covered gun deck and one open; length approx. 35 m, width 13 m, tonnage 1,500-2,000 tons; three-masted, with 40-44 guns, and a crew of about 300 men.
Corvettes had a single upper deck, length similar to frigates but the width was a couple of meters less, tonnage of about a thousand tons; two masts, from 20 to 30 guns, crew from 140 to 180 units [S. FEDELE, *L’Esercito e l’Armata di mare da Carlo III a Ferdinando*, in: S. FEDELE-S. SERIO, *L’Armata di mare di Sua Maestà il Re del Regno delle Due Sicilie*, il Gabbiano, Messina 1997, pp. 6-7. Cf. also L. RANDOGNA, *Storia della Marina militare delle Due Sicilie (1734-1860)*, Mursia, Milan 1978].
The Sea Army was so large and modern “that by number of vessels (over one hundred including large, medium, and small), total tonnage, percentage of steamships, and firepower, it is not only by far the largest among the military fleets of the pre-unification Italian States but ranks third in the Mediterranean, preceded only by those of England and France” [FEDELE, op. cit., p. 3].
It is an indisputable fact that the Italian Navy was born from the progressive aggregation, in the two-year period 1860/61, of the pre-unification Navies (Sardinian, Neapolitan, and Tuscan) to which were added the men of the Garibaldian Navy and two Papal units taken as war prizes, recovered in the port of Ancona. At the date of the proclamation of the Kingdom, the fleet consisted of 97 ships, of which 79 were operational; of the latter, 22 were screw-propelled, 35 paddle-wheel, and 22 sailing: 32 came from the Sardinian Navy, 8 from the Tuscan, 2 from the Papal, and 37 from the Navy of the Two Sicilies (24 from the Neapolitan and 13 from the Sicilian).
