Grand Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel was born in Turin on 10 June 1859. In 1873 he entered the Naval School of Naples and then moved to that of Genoa where, in 1877, he obtained the appointment of midshipman.
As a junior officer, he was embarked on the armoured ram Affondatore and the armoured steamer Principe Amedeo, then on the propeller frigate Garibaldi and the armoured frigate Venezia and then destined to carry out the task of Ordnance Officer of Prince Eugenio di Savoia Villafranca, a position during which he was promoted to Lieutenant (1886).
Several embarkations followed, reaching the rank of Corvette Captain in 1895. In 1904 he was promoted to Captain, becoming the commander of the Machinists School of Venice and the Naval Academy of Livorno, positions in which he played a leading role in the training and education of Navy personnel at all levels.
From November 1907 to November 1909 he was given command of the battleship Vittorio Emanuele; in December 1908, on the occasion of the Calabrian-Sicilian earthquake, the crew of the Vittorio Emanuele actively participated in the rescue operations, distinguishing itself for its particular activity in the reconstruction of Villa San Giovanni and Cannitello, swept away by the tsunami; for this operation he deserved the Gold Medal of Merit. Promoted to Rear Admiral in 1910, in February 1911 he was appointed Aide-de-Camp General to King Victor Emmanuel III, a position he held until the end of September and was then assigned to command the 2nd Naval Division.
With the Division he took part in the war in Libyan waters: with the armoured cruisers Giuseppe Garibaldi and Francesco Ferruccio he sank two Turkish warships in the port of Beirut, subsequently taking part in the bombardment of Tripoli and the outer forts of the Dardanelles, actions for which he deserved the Commandery of the Military Order of Savoy. After the cessation of hostilities with Turkey, he was appointed Torpedo Inspector, which he held until 1913, when, after a forty-year career (3 years of seniority as a rear admiral and at the age of only 54) he reached the top of the naval hierarchy, with the promotion to Vice Admiral and the appointment as Chief of Staff of the Navy; in this position he gave a strong impulse to the modernization and strengthening of the Armed Force, increasing the preparation for war, placing great commitment in the development and efficiency of the young underwater weapon and improving the defenses and anchorages of the Adriatic coast, in particular of Brindisi and Venice.
In addition, he laid the foundations and always closely followed the development of Naval Aviation and insidious means, for a more effective war performance in the narrow Adriatic basin. In October 1915 he resigned from his post to take up the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Maritime Military Department and of the Piazza Marittima in Venice. In this position he immediately faced the defense against possible enemy offenses (air, sea and in the case also land), developing means more suitable for the strategy that best suited the fight in the Adriatic basin: light and insidious vehicles, torpedo boats and M.A.S. On 9 February 1917 he again assumed the post of Chief of Staff of the Navy and Commander-in-Chief of the Mobilized Naval Forces.
As a junior officer, he was embarked on the armoured ram Affondatore and the armoured steamer Principe Amedeo, then on the propeller frigate Garibaldi and the armoured frigate Venezia and then destined to carry out the task of Ordnance Officer of Prince Eugenio di Savoia Villafranca, a position during which he was promoted to Lieutenant (1886). Among the various awards conferred on him, there are two War Crosses for Military Valour and the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Savoy. In October 1922 he was appointed Minister of the Navy, remaining in office until May 1925; in 1923 he received the title of Grand Admiral and Duke of the Sea, the only officer to whom this title has been attributed, on 25 July 1943 he was appointed President of the Senate and, from January 1944 until June 1945, he was forced to take refuge in a safe place outside Rome to safeguard his freedom of action from the occupying German forces and the authorities of the R.S.I. He died in Rome on March 24, 1948.
THE MOTTO
The ship's motto is "In nomine virtus", or "In the name is the value", previously used by the Royal Ship Vittorio Emanuele.
This motto indicates how much in the very name of the Admiral are condensed the best virtues that a sailor and a servant of the Fatherland must have. The inscription above the flight deck thus indicates the moral course that the crews embarked on the Navy's most modern and innovative ship must follow.
