1st class Rising Sun order awarded in 1920 to Italian Minister of the Navy Rear Admiral Giovanni Sechi

According to a Cabinet decision document dated July 24, 1920, titled "Regarding the Conferment of Decorations upon Italian Minister of the Navy Giovanni Sechi and 29 Others/伊国海軍大臣ジョヴァンニ、セキ外二十九名叙勲ノ件" the then-Italian Minister of the Navy Rear Admiral Giovanni Sechi was awarded order of the Rising Sun in recognition of the following contributions:

• Significant contributions to the Imperial Japanese Navy: Providing various forms of assistance to Japanese military observers and training squadrons sent to Italy.
• Support for joint operations during World War I: Facilitating the sharing of classified information and authorizing the production and export of specialized naval equipment, including components for submarines.
• Assistance to the Special Service Squadron: Providing extensive support to the Imperial Japanese Navy’s "Second Special Service Squadron"—deployed to the Mediterranean—when its vessels called at the Italian ports of Taranto and Genoa; this included, most notably, facilitating the rapid repair of Japanese destroyers.

All awards conferred on this day can be divided into three categories.

• First Class Tier (Supreme Distinction): Reserved exclusively for Navy Minister Rear Admiral Giovanni Sechi. He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun for orchestrating the overarching strategic cooperation between the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) and the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I.
• The Command Tier (Captains & Base Commanders): Awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd or 3rd Class. This group comprised the Senior Port Admirals and Base Commanders who held jurisdiction over the major Mediterranean naval hubs.
• The Technical & Operational Tier (Engineers & Liaison Officers): Awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd to 5th Class. This group included the engineering chiefs, repair yard directors, and intelligence liaisons who physically performed the mechanical interventions on Japanese ships.​

Silver, gilt, enamel.

 

Giovanni Sechi (Sassari, 1861 - Rome, 1948) graduated from the Italian Naval Academy in 1883. 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. 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.​

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.

Appointed a senator in 1919, he was interim Minister of War (23-24 June 1919). He served as Minister of the Navy in the first and second Nitti governments and the fifth Giolitti government (1920–21) 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.

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. At the same time as retiring Italy’s expensive larger warships, Sechi commissioned eight new minelayers, four destroyers, four submarines and eight torpedo boats.

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

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.

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

Ranks.
​

Marine Guard (Guardiamarina): June 24, 1888
Second lieutenant (Sottotenente di vascello): June 30, 1889
Lieutenant (Tenente di vascello): July 25, 1892
Lieutenant Commander (Capitano di corvetta): May 7, 1905
Frigate Captain (Capitano di fregata): January 16, 1910
Captain (Capitano di vascello): February 15, 1914
Rear Admiral ( Contrammiraglio): April 28, 1918-March 14, 1920 retirement date
Vice Admiral of the Naval Reserve (Viceammiraglio nella riserva navale): November 9, 1923
Vice admiral of the naval reserve squadron (Viceammiraglio di squadra nella riserva navale): December 23, 1923
Admiral of squadron (Ammiraglio di squadra nella riserva navale) : September 16, 1926

 

Giovanni Sechi was also awarded with the 2nd class Sacred Treasure order /exact date is currently unknown, buy it happened sometime between 1914 and 1920/.

Silver, gilt, enamel.

Breast star marked under the catching hook with ナ https://asiamedals.info/threads/mark-na-on-japanese-orders-and-medals-who-and-when.28707/.

Only the original case insert has been preserved.

Sticker on the back reads

Tesoro sacro cinque classi - Sacred Treasure Five Classes
Placca seconda classe - Second Class breast star
Grande ufficiale - Grand Officer

 

Admiral's ribbon bar with Rising Sun order and Sacred Treasure order bars.

 

2nd class Order of the Striped Tiger awarded to Italian Minister of the Navy Rear Admiral Giovanni Sechi

About the cavalier https://asiamedals.info/threads/1st-class-rising-sun-order-awarded-in-1920-to-italian-minister-of-the-navy-rear-admiral-giovanni-sechi.31009/#post-375817. Set was awarded sometime between 1919 and 1921. Silver, gilt, enamel. Set was made by Lao Tian Li workshop in...

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