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Maria Sirago NAV LAB maria.sirago@gmail.com
The ports of Naples and Castellammare and their infrastructures in the Eigtheenth and
Nineteenth Century (1734 – 1861)
The age of Charles and Ferdinand (1734 – 1799)
The economic, political and social situation of Southern Italy radically changed since the
arrival of the Bourbons in 1734. The ministers serving young king Charles soon spread European
mercantilism in the Kingdom, after an unsuccessful attempt under the previous Austrian rule.
Plans were made to restore the most important ports and revive trade reforms1.
The first trade agreements were signed with the Ottoman Porte (April 7th, 1840) and the
Regency of Tripoli (June 3rd,1741), to trade in the Mediterranean ports of call whose access had
been denied so far, because of the pirate attacks supported by those same countries. Further
agreements for the Baltic trade were then made with the Kingdom of Sweden (June 30th, 1842),
with the Kingdom of Denmark (April 6th, 1878), with Holland (August 27th, 1753), and, finally,
with the Russian Empire (January 17th, 1787)2.
First, king Charles of Bourbon decided to reorganize the fleet of ships built for defense of
Turkey and Barbary pirates galleys. The construction of the armed ship St. Filippo Real (60
guns) started in 1736 and ended two years later3. However, supplies of guns and materials for the
Royal Navy were inadequate. So, the interest for the Baltic area, shown by king Charles derived
from the need of getting some raw materials only available in northern Europe, particularly wood
for masts and iron for guns4.
1
Aliberti G., Economia e società da Carlo III ai Napoleonidi (1734-1806, in Storia di Napoli, ESI, Napoli, 1976 2a
ed., V, pp. 7-80.
2
Castellano G., Relazioni internazionali e politica commerciale estera del Regno di Napoli, «Archivi. Archivi
d’Italia e relazioni internazionali diplomatiche», serie II, XXIII, 1956, pp. 22-48 e 177-210.
3
Sirago M., Le città e il mare. Economia, politica portuale, identità culturale dei centri costieri del Mezzogiorno
moderno, Napoli, 2004, pp. 33ss.
4
Sirago M., The Shipbuilding Industry and Trade Exchanges between the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the
Countries of the Baltic and the Black Sea (1734 – 1861), into «Mediterranean Review», vol. 5, n. 2, December 2012,
pp. 81 -107; Pingaro C., Napoli e Stoccolma: impegni commerciali nel Mediterraneo al tempo di Carlo di Borbone,
into Marozzo M. C. Tiboni F. editors, Culura navale e marittima transire mare, 22 – 23/9/2016, Atti del 2°
Convegno nazionale, Università degli Studi, Genova, 2016, pp. 385 – 392.
1
Swedish guns, late 1700s5
At that time, the Merchant Navy, mainly assembled in the shipyards of Piano and Meta di
Sorrento, and on the island of Procida, was formed by small units which could not cover a very
long distance. However, since 1750, king Charles promulgated some new laws to promote the
development of the Royal merchant Navy. Some vessels, called “polacche” (polaccas) or
“pinchi” were built: they were also armed with guns6.
Sorrentine Pink Sorrentine polacca7
5
Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry.
6
Sirago, Le città e il mare, pp. 33ss.
7
Formicola A.- Romano C., Barche e bastimenti tirrenici. I principali tipi di imbarcazioni in uso nel Mezzogiorno
d’Italia tra il XVIII e il XIX secolo, in «Rivista Marittima», 1992, pp. 31-53.
2
During the Seven Years War (1756-1763), they succeeded in following the same trade
routes as the English ones (usually dominated by British or by other European merchant navies),
sometimes even getting to the Americas (Martinique). However, by the end of the war, the
English Navy had regained ground and done its business at one of the most important fairs in
southern Italy, the “Fiera franca” of Salerno, where a lot of foreign products were sold,
especially English merchandise. In the meantime, an intense shipbuilding activity was carried out
to provide the Royal fleet with new vessels8.
When Charles of Bourbon became king of Spain, he resigned the crown of Naples,
leaving his minister Bernardo Tanucci to head the regency council of his son Ferdinand until he
attained his majority. During the “Regency” of Bernardo Tanucci (1759-1767), a great number
of mainmasts from the Baltic sea kept on arriving in the kingdom, carried by Dutch ships; since
1767, they were directly bought by Giacinto Catanti, Tanucci’s brother-in-law, who had been
appointed Neapolitan consul, first in Netherlands (The Hague) and then in Denmark
(Copenhagen,1766): in those years he had gained great experience in trading this kind of
products, especially during his stay in Holland. In the same period a lot of guns had been ordered
in Sweden, where iron and steel industries had been flourishing since the second half of the
eighteenth century thanks to English, Flemish and German workers9; “alberi del Nord” (masts of
the North) were also imported from Sweden10.
Since the beginning of young king Ferdinand’s reign, his ministers tried to promote the
economic growth, both by expanding the trade with the Baltic sea and the Americas, and by
adopting a close foreign policy11. The growth of the merchant navy was promoted too: in 1770,
the Nautical School in Piano and Meta di Sorrento (with its ancient merchant shipyard and a long
8
Sirago, Le città e il mare, pp. 33ss.
9
Ryden G., Swedisk Economic History and the “New Atlantic Economy”. Iron Production and Iron Markets in the Eighteenth
Century, 2006, www.ehs.org.uk, Paper to be presented at the Economic History Society Annual Conference University of
Reading, 31 March – 2 April 2006.
10
Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry, p. 86.
11
Aliberti G., Economia e società da Carlo III ai Napoleonidi.
3
tradition of sea trade) and the Neapolitan Nautical School of San Giuseppe a Chiaia for pilots
and sailors were founded12.
Since the early 1770s, Giovanni Bompiede, the engineer who had already restored the
harbours of the Capital, Castellammare, Brindisi, Bari – the most important ports of the
kingdom13 - also decided to build some coastal fortifications with a 174 gun battery. He ordered
to import 40 guns from Sweden in 1772, 60 in 1773 (Mincuzzi) and the remnants between 1773
and 1774, so that everything was complete by 1775. In the same year, some “Masts of the
North” and anchors Mincuzzi) were sent to the kingdom to be used for the new 60 gun-vessels
on the stocks14.
A further improvement of the Royal fleet was carried out starting from 1779, when queen
Maria Carolina appointed John Acton Director of Secretary of the Neapolitan Royal Navy. He
decided to build a new royal shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia, completed in 1783, which was
suitable for the building of big vessels with 74 guns, following French plans and with the
collaboration of a French engineer called Imbert.
Jacob Philipp Hackert, the launching ceremony of the new vessel “Partenope”, 1776,
Royal Palace, Caserta
According to Acton, the 15 new vessels had to be equipped with 1058 guns, which were
ordered in Sweden in 1780, while the shipyard was being finished. As for the Royal Arms
12
Sirago M., La scuola nautica di Piano di Sorrento dalla fondazione ai giorni nostri, in D’Agostino G. editor,
Piano di Sorrento città comunità territorio (1808 -2008), Giannini ed., Napoli, 2009, pp. 224-255 and Gli studi
nautici nel Regno di Napoli (1770 – 1861), into Mafrici M. Vassallo C. editors, Sguardi mediterranei tra Italia e
Levante (XVII – XIX secolo), Malta University Press, 2012, pp. 19 – 35.
13
Sirago, Le città e il mare, pp. 33ss.
14
Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry, p. 86.
4
industry built in Torre Annunziata, the balls for the guns, and the plates of “iron from Muscovy”
used in industrial processes, came all from northern Europe, too15.
In that same period, the kingdom started to trade with the Black sea, because the raw
materials for the fleet were cheaper: French had been buying the same materials for the arsenal in
Toulon since the 1780s. After the signing of the treaty in 1787 with Russia, Vincenzo Musenga,
vice consul in the Black sea, was expected to work together with the Neapolitan consul in San
Pietroburgo, Antonino Maresca Donnorso, duke of Serracapriola, in order to get the material at a
lower price. However, the treaty became effective only after the end of the Russian-Turkish war
in 179216.
In 1783, while negotiations between the kingdom of Naples and Russia were still
pending, two Neapolitan merchants, Matteo Saverio Manes and Matteo Scherini (Giuseppe de
Ribas’ brother-in-law, he founded Odessa in 179417) tried to ship Neapolitan goods to the Baltic
sea. The ship sank, although the cargo was salvaged from the wreck18. During the following
years other merchants shipped their goods to the Baltic ports (Prussian, Swedish and Russian):
they dealt mainly with the olive oil from Puglia, exported by the city of Gallipoli and carried by
English ships. This oil was in great demand not only to be eaten, but also to be used by the
developing industry of Northern Europe19. In 1783 trade agreements were signed to buy some
“Masts of the North” on behalf of the Neapolitan Royal Navy, because they fitted the new
vessels which were under construction in Castellammare20.
After the trade agreement with Russia was signed, Antonino Maresca, duke of
Serracapriola, living in San Pietroburgo, was appointed consul. In Cronstadt a vice consul was
appointed to spare no efforts to buy those particular masts coming from Russia and sell them in
Riga to all the European merchant navies. He had also to check their quality and ship them,
15
AaVv, Napoli e la Svezia in età gustaviana, Mostra Documentaria, Archivio di Stato, Napoli, Arte Tipografica,
Napoli, 1985.
16
Sirago M., Il consolato napoletano nel Mar Nero e lo sviluppo di Odessa tra la fine del Settecento e la prima metà
dell’Ottocento, into Mascilli Migliorini L. and Mafrici M. editors, Mediterraneo e/è Mar Nero. Due mari tra età
moderna e contemporanea, ESI, Napoli, 2012, pp. 203 - 233, pp. 209ss.
17
Marzano M., I de Ribas: una famiglia napoletana ad Odessa, into Mascilli Migliorini L. and Mafrici M. editors,
Mediterraneo e/è Mar Nero, pp. 139 – 161.
18
Sirago M., Il consolato napoletano nel Mar Nero, p. 207.
19
Montaudo A., L’olio nel Regno di Napoli nel XVIII secolo. Commercio, Annona, Arrendamenti, ESI, Napoli,
2005.
20
Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry, p. 88.
5usually on Dutch or Swedish cargoes. Planks of wood and mainmasts were shipped together with
iron “in plates”, for the arms industry built in Torre Annunziata21. The supply of mainmasts for
the Navy came from the Baltic ports, where it was easier to find ships suitable for their transport.
Thanks to those abundant supplies of mainmasts and iron, Acton could finish his building plans
by 179822. At that time, Neapolitan merchant navy, particularly that of Piano and Procida, had
increased its profits and navigation to the Black Sea, the Baltic and the Americas23.
Attempts were made to buy raw materials in the Black Sea, specifically in Odessa, a city
founded in 1794 by the ispano-neapolitan general Giuseppe de Ribas by order of Catherine II. In
a short time, viceconsul Vincenzo Musenga was transferred there and many Neapolitan
merchants moved to the new growing city: one of them was de Ribas’ brother, Felice, who dealt
with wheat trade24.
The French Decade (1806 – 1815)
At the end of 1798, the king, while running away to Sicily, ordered to set fire to the fleet,
which sank in the Gulf of Naples25. At the beginning of 1799 the Parthenopean Republic was
proclaimed. The king came back to Naples six months later with the help of admiral Nelson, who
had previously escorted him to Palermo.
After Napoleon’s rise to power, the Italian peninsula was invaded by the French in 1806.
The Bourbons fled to the island of Sicily, in Palermo, under British protection. Trade increased
very much in Messina during the so called “British decade” (1806-1816)26
However, in 1806, Giuseppe Bonaparte was proclaimed king of the two Sicilies by his
brother Napoleon, who forced him to take measures to restore the most important ports in the
21
Cavalcanti M. L., Alle origini del Risorgimento - Le relazioni commerciali tra il regno di Napoli e la Russia
(1777-1815) - Fatti e Teorie, Librairie Droz, Geneve, 1979; . Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry, pp. 88ss.
22
Radogna L., Storia della marina militare delle Due Sicilie (16734-1860), Mursia, Milano, 1978, pp. 23ss.
23
Sirago, Le città e il mare, pp. 85ss
24
Sirago, Il consolato napoletano nel Mar Nero, pp. 217ss.
25
Radogna, Storia della marina militare, pp. 42ss.
26
Bottari S., Dalla rivolta antispagnola al “decennio inglese” (1674-1815), into Bottari S., Chiara L. editors, La
lunga rincorsa. Messina dalla rivolta antispagnola al terremoto del 1908, Lacaita, Manduria-Bari-Roma 2009, pp.
17-106.
6kingdom, starting from Brindisi and Taranto27. At the same time were reactivated the Naval
Academy and the school for “pilotini” (captains) and placed in the same building, the former
Monastero dei Santi Severino e Sossio; and the naval schools in Meta e Piano, by Sorrento,
underwent the same renovation28.
Two years later, Giuseppe Bonaparte was named as king of Spain and Gioacchino Murat
in his place, as king of Naples. So Napoleon, who had already reactivated the main Italian
arsenals (in Trieste, Venice, Genoa, La Spezia, Ancona) in order to build vessels with 80 guns, in
conformity with the French plans, like those in the arsenal of Toulon, wanted Murat to rearrange
also the shipyard in Castellammare. Therefore, the king decided to start expanding the arsenal of
Castellammare and ordered to build three docks to make three vessels simultaneously (following
a plan that was carried out later, in the 1820s, under the Bourbon rule. In 1810 was launched the
vessel Capri, to celebrate the reconquest of the island, occupied by the British Fleet in 1806, and
in 1812 the vessel Gioacchino29.
However, the recession caused by the English Continental Blockade (signed on
November 21st, 1806) hindered trade with the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, and the Americas. So, it
was not possible to get the material from the Baltic or the Black sea because of the period of
recession, deriving from the English Continental Blockade (21st November 1806). The
controversy with the United States arose in 1809 when Murat, with Napoleon’s approval,
decreed that American ships that ventured out into the bay of Naples could be seized and
confiscated: it is estimated that between 1809 and 1812 about fifty vessels were captured and
sold with their cargoes or added to the Royal fleet. One of these ships, the schooner Ocean, a
model of which was built for the Maritime Academy, was added to the Neapolitan fleet30. The
embargo was effective intermittently for about half the time and intended on 11 April 1814, after
Napoleon's first abdication31. Business relations with Russia started again only after the end of
27
Sirago, Le città e il mare, pp. 44ss
28
Sirago, Gli studi nautici nel Regno di Napoli (1770 – 1861).
29
Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry,pp. 93 – 95.
30
M. Sirago, Diplomatic relations and trade between the Kingdom of Naples and the new American nation in late
18th century / early 19th century, into Cultures, Hopes and Conflicts. The Mediterranean between Land and Sea,
3rd international Conference of ICRS Mediterranean Knowledge, 8th International Conference of MedWorlds,
University of Salerno, Campus of Fisciano, 26 – 28 September 2017, in press.
31
Sirago M., L’organizzazione della marineria, della flotta e del Sistema portuale del Regno di Napoli nel decennio
francese, into De Lorenzo R. editor, Ordine e disordine Amministrazione e mondo militare nel Decennio Francese,
Atti del Sesto Seminario di studi “Decennio Francese” (1806 – 1815), Vibo Valentia, 2 – 4/10/2008, Giannini
Editore, Napoli, 2012, pp. 67 – 91.
7that closedown, even though former consul, duke of Serracapriola, was allowed to stay in San
Pietroburgo on his own32. And the same was for business relations with the United States33
The second part of the Bourbon Kingdom (1815-1860)
After the Restoration, when king Ferdinand came back to Naples, he conformed to the adopted
trading policy and promoted further improvements. He decided to rearrange the main ports and
reorganized the nautical schools following Matteo Galdi’s plan, dating back to 1809. He also
decided to rearrange the sea power of the kingdom in order to protect the merchant navy and to
reorganize the fleet: the General Ordinance of the Royal Navy was published in 1818. A few
years later, in 1822, vessels with 80 guns were built again in the shipyard of Castellammare to
replace the old ones, in the same way as they had already done during the French period,
following the old French plan. The vessel Vesuvio was launched in 1824 34.
On occasion of the launch of the new vessel, the extension works in the shipyard of
Castellammare dating back to 1812 were resumed: a lot of work was done above ground as well
as under the sea by a team of “scuba divers” who had already built a permanent dock for the
launch of the vessel Vesuvio; and in 1824 the vessel Archimede, with 80 guns, was launched
too35. At that time the wood was bought in Sweden and Russia, particulary in the port of Riga.
Indeed trade exchanges with the Baltic ports, primarily the Swedish and the Russian ones, were
set out again since the Restoration in order to find the raw materials for the brigs and then for
the steamships36.
32
Sirago M., Il consolato napoletano nel Mar Nero, pp. 217ss.
33
Sirago, Diplomatic relations and trade between the Kingdom of Naples and the new American nation.
34
Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry , pp. 95ss.
35
Archivio di Stato, Napoli, Consiglio Ordinario di Stato, Protocolli, 852, 11/9/1822, 12/7 and 23/9/1823 and 853,
5/5 and 14/12/1824.
36
Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry , pp. 95ss.
8A brik37
The king also supported the construction of new merchant ships, like schooners (like the
American ships) and brigs, particularly those “a coffa”, so called because of their platforms
which had to support the upper masts, whose construction was on a particular shore leave. In a
short time, the merchant navy increased shipbuilding38, particularly brigs and brigs “a palo” in
the shipyards of Naples, Piano, Meta di Sorrento, Castellammare, the island of Procida, and the
Principato Citra in Conca (in the 1840s, the number of brigs was about 340 in 10.000 units, for a
total amount of 250.000 tons)39.
In the same period the “adventure” of steam engines had begun: in 1818 the French trader
Pierre Andriel had a patent-right to build the first steamship (with an English engine) at the
Marina di Vigliena, near Naples, launched in June 24: it was called “Ferdinando 1st” and had an
English engine, which had been personally bought by Andriel in England. The pilot for the first
voyage was Giuseppe Libetta, a youngh Neapolitan officer of the Royal fleet who had just
finished his studies at the naval academy. However, it wasn’t a successful achievement, so the
ship was dismantled40.
In 1823 a new plan for ports and navigation was made, so George Wilding, prince of
Butera, a German officer from Dresda, had a ten- year patent-right to found a steamship society
to connect Naples to Palermo for postal service and passengers. In England he bought the
steamboat (also called packet boat, from pacchetto in Italian), called Real Ferdinand,
37
www.sullacresta dellonda.it
38
Clemente A., La marina mercantile napoletana dalla Restaurazione all’Unità. Flotta, tecniche e rotte tra
navigazione di lungo corso e cabotaggio, in «Storia Economica», 2/2011, pp. 207-246.
39
Sirago, Le città e il mare, pp. 159ss., tabs.
40
Sirago M., Development of New Steamships and History of the Shipping Indust4ry in the Kingdom of the two
Sicilies (1816 - 1861), into Pisano R editor, A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks. Sciences, Society and
Technology Studies. Dordrecht, Springer, 2015, pp. 495 -511, pp. 495 – 498.
9commanded by Andrea di Martino, who had already piloted the first Ferdinando I: he started his
voyages on June 20th 1824. In the same period the minister Luigi de’ Medici granted the
company special terms for postal service, for the first time in Italy. The patent – right was then
bought by Maurizio Dupont, who wanted to promote the route to Marseille: the first voyage was
commanded by the pilot Gaetano Astarita on August 1st 182641.
In 1826 the new king Francis 1st decided to promote commercial activities, therefore he
settled the question about the privileges enjoyed by English, French and Spanish Navies. After
the Restoration he promulgated a navigation law which put on the same level Neapolitan Navy to
the others. He also increased steam navigation42.
st
The Ferdinand 1 ,
Marseille Chamber of Commerce
When Dupont went bankrupt, the patent – right was bought by Giorgio Sicard, his
creditor. He founded a company, the “Società Giorgio Sicard, Benucci e Pizzardi” in 1829, and
sought the professional advice of his young son Leopoldo, an expert on shipbuilding, who had
studied in England. He went to Glasgow to supervise the building of the steamship Francesco I,
planned for the European routes from Naples; on the contrary, the Real Ferdinando kept the
routes from Naples to Palermo. Then Sicard stipulated an agreement to rent the boat Maria
Luigia for the same routes from Naples to Palermo.
In 1834 the patent – right expired, but king Ferdinand II did not want to renew it to the
“Società Sicard”. The king’s intention was to initiate royal postal service by steamboat.
41
Sirago, Development of New Steamships, pp. 498ss.
42
Sirago, Le città e il mare, pp. 48ss.
10However, Sicard was able to turn his society into a joint- stock company, whose only benefit was
to employ sailors from the royal navy, bearing himself the cost of it. He was under the obligation
of training them in the new kind of navigation and placing them at the king’s disposal. In the
same year Leopoldo Sicard went to Glasgow to buy the third steamboat, Maria Cristina. When
Giorgio Sicard died, in 1835, the company turned into the limited partnership of the
“Administration of the steamship navigation in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies”. But in 1839
Leopoldo also died and the partnership turned into a corporation named “Leopoldo Sicard &
Co.”, owner of the steamboats Ferdinando I and Maria Cristina43.
In 1836 a “Steamboat Royal Delegation” was founded with three steamships for postal
service and passengers. The Delegation purchased in England two wooden ships with paddle
wheels for the Royal Navy, the Nettuno and the Ferdinand II: in addition, the English steam
schooner Santa Wenefreda was also bought and restored in the shipyard of Castellammare. But
after 3 years the Delegation was dissolved for lean profits. In 1840 the king supported the
purchase of three steamers in England, the Nettuno, the Lilibeo and the Peloro, wich were used
to carry mail, passengers and some goods; then were added other five steamers Rondine,
Antilope, and Argonauta from England, Miseno and Palinuro from France: this event marked the
beginning of the state postal service assigned to the General Post Office44.
Starting from 1835, some steamships (6HP), with English engines, called “cavafondi”
(used to clean the harbours), like the Vulcano, were built for the Royal Fleet45. Their little
machines were built in a laboratory founded in 1830 in Torre Annunziata by William Robinson,
a Scottish captain, who worked for the Bourbons; Colonel Luigi Corsi was destined to work with
Robinson. This was the first time that the kingdom of the two Sicilies experimented the
production of its own steamships, so excluding any purchase from England 46.
In 1837, after Robinson’s death, the king decided to move the laboratory to the Royal
Palace, entrusting Luigi Corsi with the management of it. Then in 1840, he ordered Carlo
Filangieri, an officer who had been experimenting the most recent innovations about steam
machine, to look for a suitable place to build a new factory to make domestic steam engines. He
chose Pietrarsa, a deserted place in Portici, near Naples, where he built the “Royal Factory. In
43
Sirago, Development of New Steamships, pp. 498ss.
44
Sirago, Development of New Steamships, p. 504.
45
Sirago, Development of New Steamships, p. 505.
46
Corsi C., Il commendatore Luigi Corsi e lo stabilimento di Pietrarsa, Napoli, Tipografia di Filinto Cosmi, 1887,
p. 10.
111841 most of the Royal Factory had been built and 200 workers were producing the most varied
steam engines (21 engines for steamships in 20 years). In the meantime, Filangieri decided to
found a school for steamship pilots for 20 pupils47.
Later on, at the beginning of 1838, Ferdinand II formed a technical committee headed by
the “expert supervisor” Giovan Battista Staiti, whose task was to plan the expansion of the
shipyard of Castellammare to adapt it to the new types of steamboats: : the estimated
expenditure was about 70.000 ducats. The area belonging to the merchant shipyard was included
in the plan, so that it had to be rebuilt in another place48. The works started in 1839, after the
king’s visit, with the restoration of the roofs which protected the timber used to build the vessels.
The shipyard was completed in 1845: it had required a lot of work and an expense of 300.000
ducats. In that period a new dock (“avanscalo” or “scalo di alaggio”) was built with the machines
of Pietrarsa49 and it was used to lanch the vessel called Capri. At the end of 1843 there had been
the successful launch of the 300 horse – power steam frigate called Hercules. From that moment
on, it was possible to start building other steamships and vessels50.
In the same years captain Matteo Correale, a harbor master, made a plan for the new
factory, which was opened in 1853 and equipped with English made machinery.
In 1844 , it was necessary to improve the shipyard and build a retaining wall because of
the damage caused by a storm. In addition, the foundations under the sea were strengthened and
a great number of warehouses were built in the district on the left of the old harbor. Finally, a jett
of rocks was thought to be essential to protect the new naval port. In the meanwhile, a new 300
horse – power steamship was being built: it was like a “corvette” or brick, with 26 guns, more
expensive than the other, but surely more functional. At the end of 1844 the steam frigate
Archimede was successfully launched. By the end of 1848 three steam frigates, Ettore, Carlo III
and Sannita, were built with British engines. Finally in 1851, the steam frigate Ettore
Fieramosca, with a steam engine built in Pietrarsa, was assembled in Castellammare. At last the
Kingdom started to build in situ its own ships entirely – both the outer and the engines51.
47
Corsi, Il commendatore Luigi Corsi, pp. 10 ss.; Alvino, F., Ercolano, Portici, il Vesuvio e il Regio opificio di
Pietrarsa, Napoli, 1852, pp. 29-64.
48
Archivio di Stato, Napoli, Ministro dell’Agricoltura, Industria, Commercio (MAIC), 188.
49
Corsi, Il commendatore Luigi Corsi, pp. 12 ss.; Gramegna A., Pietrarsa Cenni storici, Portici Stabilimento
Tipografico Vesuviano, 1895.
50
Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry , pp. 97- 98.
51
Sirago, The Shipbuilding Industry , p. 99.
12In the meantime, a dry dock for ship repair was built in the Neapolitan arsenal, the first in Italy,
and inaugurated on August 15th , 185252.
References
AaVv, Napoli e la Svezia in età gustaviana, Mostra Documentaria, Archivio di Stato, Napoli, Arte Tipografica,
Napoli, 1985 = Napoli e la Svezia
Aliberti G., Economia e società da Carlo III ai Napoleonidi (1734-1806, in Storia di Napoli, ESI, Napoli, 1976 2a
ed., V, pp. 7-80.
Alvino, F., Ercolano, Portici, il Vesuvio e il Regio opificio di Pietrarsa, Napoli, 1852.
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