Royal Neapolitan Navy
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The Royal Navy of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (''Real Marina del Regno delle Due Sicilie'' or ''Armata di Mare di S.M. il Re del Regno delle Due Sicilie'') was the official term in documents of the era for the naval forces of the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...
- it and the Royal Army together formed the Kingdom's armed forces. The modern use of the term ''Regio'' for royal was only introduced into the force's title after the annexation of the
Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...
. It was the most important of the pre-
unification Unification or unification theory may refer to: Computer science * Unification (computer science), the act of identifying two terms with a suitable substitution * Unification (graph theory), the computation of the most general graph that subs ...
Italian navies and Cavour made it the model of the new Italian ''
Regia Marina The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origin ...
'' after the annexation of the Two Sicilies.


The Navy of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

In June 1815 King
Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...
returned to
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
from
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
together with the Bourbon Navy. With the simultaneous defeat of
Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...
, two vessels were handed over to the British, but a
corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...
, two
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
s, 24
gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...
s, and the two frigates were ceded to Ferdinand, who thus found himself with a modern fleet. The navy's structure in this period was based on that of the
Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...
. In December 1816 the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...
was formed, unifying the
Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...
with the
Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...
, and the king took the name Ferdinand I. In 1818 the General Ordinances of ''the Royal Navy of the Two Sicilies'' were promulgated relating to the entire composition and organization of the Navy: this was the first regulation made by the new kingdom in the maritime field; they constituted various bodies of officers, a nautical
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...
, an ''Accademia di Marina'' ("Naval academy") and three naval bases, at
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
,
Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
, and
Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
. In the same year, the new Marine Regulation was issued. In 1820 the Navy was considerably strengthened, aligning three divisions with about seventy warships of all types, with a clear prevalence of light woods. In July 1820 the frigate ''Amalia'' (formerly ''Carolina''), together with other ships, escorted to
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
a
convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
of
merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...
s bearing the Expeditionary Corps of
Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
Florestano Pepe Florestano Pepe (March 4, 1778 – April 3, 1851) was an Italian patriot. He was brother to the more famous general Guglielmo Pepe and cousin to Gabriele Pepe. Pepe was born in Squillace (Calabria) and entered the Two Sicilies army at young age. ...
, sent to repress an insurrection on the island. On September 2, 1820, a fleet consisting of the ''Amalia'', the vessel ''Capri'', the corvette ''Leone'', the
polacca A polacca (or ''polacre'') is a type of seventeenth- to nineteenth-century sailing vessel, similar to the xebec. The name is the feminine of "Polish" in the Italian language. The polacca was frequently seen in the Mediterranean. It had two or th ...
''Sant'Antonio e Italia'', and 14
brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...
s, reinforced the following day by six gunboats and a
bomb ketch A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons ( long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mount ...
, left Naples and was sent to Sicily with a landing force to repress revolutionary movements. Between 1827 and 1828 the 44-gun frigate ''Regina Isabella'', the 32-gun corvette ''Cristina'', and the brigantines ''Prince Charles'' and Francis I entered service.


See also

*
Naval operations of the First Italian War of Independence The naval operations of the First Italian War of Independence took place between April 1848 and August 1849 and involved the Austrian Empire and the forces opposing it from the Republic of San Marco, the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of the Tw ...


References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Real Marina'' (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies 1818 establishments in Italy Military units and formations established in 1818 Military history of the Mediterranean