“ During the World War he was commander-in-chief of the Italian naval forces, and showed very high qualities of seamanship, strategy and organization in the extremely difficult operations in the Adriatic. He had British and French warships under his orders. He relinquished his command in 1917 owing to disagreements with Adml. Thaon di Revel, chief of the Naval Staff, and retired from the service. Afterwards he undertook an important colonization and agricultural development scheme in Italian Somaliland. ”