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 Navy School of Genoa in 1861 and on 1 February 1865 he was promoted to midshipman.

Cartography and hydrography

He was then transferred back to the Monzambano, now serving as a hydrographic vessel, with which he carried out an expedition along the Adriatic coast, earning him the title of knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1871. On 1st Dec. In 1872 he was promoted to second lieutenant and sent for a year and a half to Trieste to supervise the publication of some of the hydrographic maps he had helped to prepare. In June 1874 he was placed in charge of mapping the coast and seabed of La Spezia and in January 1875 he set off on the steam frigate Maria Adelaide on a naval educational voyage that took him to Spain, Tunisia, Portugal and Gibraltar. On December 25th 1876 he was appointed lieutenant first class and from April 1877 to October 1880 he served on the hydrographic vessel Washington. In January 1886 he was appointed knight of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus In July 1887 he was promoted to frigate captain and from January to September 1889 he held the position of director of the naval hydrographic office in Genoa.

Crete, Somalia and China

Having obtained the rank of captain in July 1890, in January 1894 he was entrusted with command of the ironclad Lepanto, which he held until March 1896, and from February 1897 to June 1898 he commanded the battleship Sicilia. From 1 March 1901 until the same date the following year he was superior commander of the Royal Maritime Crew Corps. Having carried out this mission, Mirabello continued on to the Far East.

Ministerial career While Mirabello was in the Far East he received a proposal for him to become Minister of the Navy in the second Giolitti government. The rationale was that he had never been involved in politics, and was considered to have the necessary integrity and impartiality to restore public confidence after the accusations of corruption levelled against the previous minister, Giovanni Bettolo. Mirabello agreed to serve and returned to Italy. On 3 November he took up his post and five days later he was appointed senator.

In addition to these battleships, the navy under Mirabello also acquired twenty-eight torpedo boats, ten counter-torpedo boats, a scout cruiser and three submarines. His final legacy to the navy, The Mirabello law of 27 June 1909, provided funds to order three other first-class battleships, two scout cruisers, thirty torpedo boats, six destroyers and eight submarines. As well as securing more ships he introduced many innovations such as the naval gunnery school and radiotelegraphy on all of the navy’s ships. Funds were assigned to naval exercises and the supply of coal for navigation doubled.

There was much criticism of Mirabello over the delays in getting the navy to support the victims of the 1908 Messina earthquake, at a time when many crews were at home on leave for Christmas.

Namesake The scout cruiser , commissioned in 1916 and reclassified as a destroyer in 1938, was named after Mirabello. She took part in World War I, the Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War, and World War II and sank after striking a mine in 1941.

Honours Carlo Mirabello held a number of Italian and foreign honours.