The Sardinian Navy 1792 to 1798
Junior Service
Established in the Middle Ages by the Counts and Dukes of Savoy as a Geneve Lake squadron, in 1792 the little Royal Sardinian Navy was - as had always been - far less important than the Army, and by all means the junior service. In 1792 it was composed of two Squadrons, one based in Sardinia, the other at Nice, or rather the fortified port of Nice, Villefranche. Little more than a shallow water navy, it was tasked with the protection of the island of Sardinia from Muslim pirates raids - the island was a regular target for Algerian and Tunisian pirates hunting for booty and slaves - and securing a communication line between Sardinia and the continental portion of the Kingdom.
In 1790, the Navy - under its overall commander, Chevalier de Foncenex and his HQ in Villefranche, Nice - lined up:
two old frigates (San Carlo, a 32-guns bought from the Netherlands, never used in action and soon dismantled, and San Vittorio, a 44-guns built in Villefranche);
two corvettes, Augusta and Carolina;
a number of galleys - light rowing ships long dismissed elsewhere but still quite widely used in the Mediterranean - and some "small fish", little armed boats such as feluccas and xebecs.
The Navy had its tiny Marine infantry corps, the Battalion of the Navy (later Regiment New Navy - Oneglia Regiment). It included one Grenadier company.
The rapid fall of the County of Nice into French hands in 1792 brought about the destruction of the Nice Squadron, the mainstay of the fleet. The corvette Carolina as well as all minor boats were captured along with the Villefranche arsenal and no less than 100 guns. Only the frigate San Vittorio escaped. Employed in the Allied expedition to Toulon in 1793, due to its exceedingly old age it was dismissed there in exchange for the captured, and newer, French frigate Alceste. Now flying the Sardinian flag, Alceste operated in conjunction with the British Mediterranean Fleet under Admiral Hood. Tne commander was a Scotsman, Ross, and the second-in-command was Lieutenant Giorgio Des Geneys, a Piedmontese officer.
In 1790, the Navy - under its overall commander, Chevalier de Foncenex and his HQ in Villefranche, Nice - lined up:
two old frigates (San Carlo, a 32-guns bought from the Netherlands, never used in action and soon dismantled, and San Vittorio, a 44-guns built in Villefranche);
two corvettes, Augusta and Carolina;
a number of galleys - light rowing ships long dismissed elsewhere but still quite widely used in the Mediterranean - and some "small fish", little armed boats such as feluccas and xebecs.
The Navy had its tiny Marine infantry corps, the Battalion of the Navy (later Regiment New Navy - Oneglia Regiment). It included one Grenadier company.
The rapid fall of the County of Nice into French hands in 1792 brought about the destruction of the Nice Squadron, the mainstay of the fleet. The corvette Carolina as well as all minor boats were captured along with the Villefranche arsenal and no less than 100 guns. Only the frigate San Vittorio escaped. Employed in the Allied expedition to Toulon in 1793, due to its exceedingly old age it was dismissed there in exchange for the captured, and newer, French frigate Alceste. Now flying the Sardinian flag, Alceste operated in conjunction with the British Mediterranean Fleet under Admiral Hood. Tne commander was a Scotsman, Ross, and the second-in-command was Lieutenant Giorgio Des Geneys, a Piedmontese officer.
The Battle of Cap Corse
On June 8th, 1794, Alceste - sailing alone to Hyeres carrying instructions from Admiral Hood for Admiral Hotham - ran into a squadron of 14 ships, flying the British flag, off Cap Corse (Corsica's northernmost tip). As it was getting near the apparently friendly squadron, the frigate was suddenly attacked by what turned out to be a whole French fleet including seven ships-of-the-line, five frigates and two brigs. A desperate close combat followed in which massively outnumbered and outgunned Alceste put up a magnificent fight, driving off the French frigate Junon, causing devastating damage to the 32-guns frigate Boudeuse and duelling with the three-decks, 80-guns ship-of-the-line Tonnant. After four hours and a half of battle, disabled and unable to fight any further, Alceste was forced to surrender and its heroic crew taken prisoner. Vice-commander Des Geneys would later become the admiral and commander in chief of the revived Sardinian Navy of the Restauration.
The Sardinian Squadron
The surviving Squadron of Sardinia, a puny coastal force which clearly was not in the position to challenge the immensely superior French fleet, kept patrolling the island's coastal waters, but it played a minor role in the repulse of the French attacks on Sardinia. However, it enjoyed its moment of glory in February 1793, when a French-Corsican expedition, with Bonaparte as artillery commander, attacked the Maddalena Archipelago between Corsica and Sardinia.
Although French histories downplay or altogether ignore that side of the story, the little bunch of small boats based in the archipelago contributed to the attackers' defeat, together with the well served Navy coastal artillery batteries which scored some hits on French ships. The boats countered Bonaparte's gunfire on the main Sardinian positions by transporting a battery of guns to the mainland which would open up on the moored French ships; then by closely chasing the retreating, but still very superior French with a gunboat that hit and damaged two French boats. The boat commander, the determined and enterprising Domenico Millelire, thereafter took the abandoned French positions, capturing material (also Bonaparte's own gun laying device, still on display today in the Turin Artillery Museum) and four prisoners. Millelire would be awarded the first Gold Medal for Valor in the history of the Italian Navy.
Although French histories downplay or altogether ignore that side of the story, the little bunch of small boats based in the archipelago contributed to the attackers' defeat, together with the well served Navy coastal artillery batteries which scored some hits on French ships. The boats countered Bonaparte's gunfire on the main Sardinian positions by transporting a battery of guns to the mainland which would open up on the moored French ships; then by closely chasing the retreating, but still very superior French with a gunboat that hit and damaged two French boats. The boat commander, the determined and enterprising Domenico Millelire, thereafter took the abandoned French positions, capturing material (also Bonaparte's own gun laying device, still on display today in the Turin Artillery Museum) and four prisoners. Millelire would be awarded the first Gold Medal for Valor in the history of the Italian Navy.