Paolo Thaon di Revel

Paolo Camillo Thaon, Marquess of Revel (10 June 1859 – 24 March 1948), latterly titled with the honorary title of 1st Duke of the Sea, was an Italian admiral of the Regia Marina during World War I and later a politician. Thaon di Revel was born in Turin from a family of the Savoyard and Niçard nobility of Scottish descent, a minor son of Marquess and Count Ottavio Thaon di Revel. He took part as Rear-admiral in the Italo-Turkish War, commanding Italian cruisers in the Battle of Beirut. He was named Chief of Staff of the Regia Marina in 1913; he supported the signing of a naval convention between the nations of the Triple Alliance, knowing of Italy's vulnerability to seaborne threats and its dependence on its sealanes, which was concluded on October of that year. When World War I broke out, he warned the government of Antonio Salandra that chances of Austro-Italian success against the combined force of the French and British fleets was small, and that the Regia Marina could not guarantee the safety of the Italian coast. This factors weighed in Salandra's decision to proclaim Italy's neutrality. When Italy joined the Entente on 24 May 1915, Thaon di Revel became the leading figure of Italy's naval war, and remained so for the duration. He resigned in October 1915 because of friction between him and the Minister of the Navy Camillo Corsi over the respective authority, and took command of the naval base of Venice. On 3 February 1917, he was reappointed Chief of Staff, and combined the position with that of Commander in Chief of the mobilized naval forces (i.e. the Regia Marina's main forces), replacing Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi.