Arturo Triangi

Arturo Corrado Luigi Triangi, Conte di Maderno e Laces (18 February 1864 in Fiesole – 3 March 1935 in Florence) was an Italian admiral. He was also a member of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy and briefly Minister of the Navy in the Boselli government. A count of the Holy Roman Empire, his title was officially recognised in Italy by a ministerial decree of 8 April 1925.

Early career Arturo Corrado Luigi Triangi came from a noble family and was the son of Giuseppe Triangi and his wife Elisabetta Thom.

On 16 October 1878, he began training at the Naval School in Genoa. On 1 August 1883, at the end of five years at the naval school, he was appointed ensign of the general staff corps. His first assignment was on the screw corvette . Over the next two years on board Flavio Gioia, Triangi voyaged to South America, touching the major Atlantic and Pacific ports of the continent. Returning home on board the aviso Staffetta, he was promoted to second lieutenant in January 1886.

His first assignment on a large vessel came after his appointment as tenente (lieutenant on 14 April 1889, when he was assigned to the ironclad battleship , one of the largest units of the Regia Marina ("Royal Navy"). His first tour as a second officer was on board the Aquila (August–October 1888). His first command was of the torpedo boat the 64.S from 28 June 1896 to 3 June 1898, followed by a second on torpedo boat 133. In November 1902, he was appointed commander of a squadron of torpedo boats. In September 1904 he reached the rank of frigate captain and from 1 December 1909 to 29 September 1911 he commanded the Navy Engineer School. He was promoted to ship-of-the-line captain on 16 January 1910. He was tasked with maintaining control of the Tripolitanian coast and suppressing the smuggling of weapons in to Ottoman and indigenous forces who opposed the Italian invasion. With the same ships, Triangi also took part in the taking of Misrata.

His period in office lasted only a matter of weeks. During a closed-door meeting in the Chamber of Deputies, he argued that the crisis in maritime transport could not easily be resolved, because the April 1917 entry of the United States into the war was placing significant new demands on merchant shipping, meaning less was available for Italian use. News of his pessimistic views reached the press, fueling public anxiety about shortages. Shaken by the incident, Triangi's health began to suffer, prompting him to resign on 15 July 1917. He also wrote to Count Giuseppe Manfredi, president of the Senate, offering resign his seat there too as he had been so briefly in office, but his offer was not accepted.

Honours