Captain Antonios Armenis

S.N. Antonio Armeni da Corfú (*1756 Corfu) (†02.10.1824 Venice) Ship-of-the-line Captain/ Capitano di vascello

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The liberal revolutions of 1820 prompted a decisive diplomatic and military response from Vienna. As the Congress of Troppau gave way to another meeting at Laibach (Ljubljana), Metternich turned his energies toward restoring order in the Italian peninsula.

The subsequent campaign against Naples marked the start of what can be characterized as an “era of big spending" in Habsburg foreign policy that would last for just over a decade, through a second series of revolutions and intervention in Italy in 1831-32.

The Early 1820s
For the Austrian navy, the new era began on a tragic note. In January 1821 its most prestigious seaman, Captain Nicolo Pasqualigo, died of a lung ailment only weeks after being named squadron commander. His sudden passing could not have come at a worse time. The congress had already reconvened in Ljubljana to approve Austria's intervention in Naples, and the army was scheduled to march in early February.

Count Bellegarde, once again president of the Hofkriegsrat, ordered his foremost expert on naval affairs, Major General Marquis Amilcare Paulucci delle Roncole, to submit a list of candidates for the vacant position.

Because of his age and years away from the sea, Marine-Kommandant Conninck was not even considered for the assignment.

The veteran Flanegan, though "a good seaman," was rejected on the same grounds. Dandolo, next on the list of seniority, was described as "a man in his best years."

Captain Antonio Armeni, fourth in line after Pasqualigo's death and, like Dandolo, a veteran of Venetian, Austrian, Italian, and, since 1814, Austrian service once again, was the only other possibility.

Bellegarde, however, did not want to present the emperor with a choice of two Venetians. Before forwarding the list to Francis at Ljubljana, he added Paulucci's name to it.

Reference: The Habsburg Empire and the Sea
Austrian Naval Policy, 1797-1866 By Lawrence Sondhaus · 1989