Giovanni Sechi

Giovanni Sechi (Sassari, 1861 - Rome, 1948) was an Italian admiral and politician.

Giovanni Sechi
Senator
In office 31 July 1919 – 5 August 1943
Minister of the Navy
In office 23 June 1919 – 4 July 1921

Naval career

Sechi graduated from the Italian Naval Academy in 1883.^[1] Between 1903 and 1906, as a lieutenant and professor at the Naval Academy, Sechi published a two-volume work entitled Elementi di Arte Militari Marittima, a thesis on naval strategy and doctrine.^[2] It outlined the importance of strategy, in contrast to the established Italian emphasis on naval battle tactics. He also made an ultimately successful case for Italy to invest in fast dreadnoughts.^[3]

He took part as an officer in the Italo-Turkish War and in the First World War. Made a rear admiral in 1918, he was promoted to reserve vice admiral in 1923 and then squadron admiral in 1926.^[4][1]

Political career

Appointed a senator in 1919, he was interim Minister of War (23-24 June 1919).^[1] He served as Minister of the Navy in the first and second Nitti governments and the fifth Giolitti government (1920–21)^[5] during the difficult postwar period in which Italy was trying to return to a sustainable peacetime economy and scale back its military and naval costs.^[4][6]

As Navy Minister Sechi followed the Nitti government line of demobilisation and reduction in arms manufacture. The navy was reduced in strength from 120,000 to 34,000 men; four old battleships and fifteen cruisers were decommissioned and the construction of the dreadnought Francesco Caracciolo halted.^[7] At the same time as retiring Italy’s expensive larger warships, Sechi commissioned eight new minelayers, four destroyers, four submarines and eight torpedo boats.^[8][6]

He also made an unsuccessful proposal to end direct state management of shipyards and leave them to the private sector.^[9]

Sechi also took a conservative line on the Adriatic question after the First World War. Paolo Thaon di Revel and Alfredo Acton believed Italy’s security required that she deny control of the Adriatic ports to any potentially hostile power; hence that Italy should occupy Dalmatia as had been agreed in the Treaty of London. As the new Kingdom of Yugoslavia possessed a navy of only twelve small ships, Sechi did not believe it was a threat.^[10][8]

He also served as president of the Italian Naval and Aeronautical Register from 1928 to 1935.^[11]

Honours

Commander of the Military Order of Savoy - ribbon for ordinary uniform	Commander of the Military Order of Savoy
	— 15 November 1918

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Italy - ribbon for ordinary uniform	Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Italy
	— 2 January 1920

Grand Cordon of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus - ribbon for ordinary uniform	Grand Cordon of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
	— 5 July 1935

War Merit Cross - ribbon for ordinary uniform	War Merit Cross

References

1. "SECHI Giovanni". senato.it. Senato della Repubblica. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
2. Vego, Milan (2018). Maritime Strategy and Sea Denial Theory and Practice. London: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351047708. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
3. Donolo, Luigi. "The History of Italian Naval Doctrine" (PDF). dtic.mill. Naval Doctrine Command, Norfolk, VA. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
4. "Sèchi, Giovanni". treccani.it. Enciclopedia on line. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
5. La Civiltà cattolica Issues 1681–1686. Rome: La Civiltà Cattolica. 1920. p. 83. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
6. Hattendorf, John D. (2013). Naval Policy and Strategy in the Mediterranean Past, Present and Future. London: Taylor & Francis. p. 92. ISBN 9781136713170. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
7. Bagnasco, Erminio; de Toro, Augusto (2021). Italian Battleships Conte Di Cavour and Duilio Classes 1911–1956. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 9781526799883. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
8. Gooch, John (2007). Mussolini and His Generals The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 32. ISBN 9780521856027. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
9. Fragiacomo, Paolo (2012). L'industria come continuazione della politica la cantieristica italiana, 1861-2011. Milan: Franco Angeli. p. 103. ISBN 9788820407162. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
10. Goldstein, Erik; Maurer, John (2012). The Washington Conference, 1921-22 Naval Rivalry, East Asian Stability and the Road to Pearl Harbor. London: Taylor & Francis. p. 223. ISBN 9781136299223. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
11. "Gazzetta Ufficiale". gazzettaufficiale.it. Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d’Italia. Retrieved 15 December 2023.