it had passed the Dardanelles and then retreat to Chania to free it. After having stalled substantially for some time, in April he received the news of an exit of the Turkish fleet from Constantinople; consequently, Marcello headed for the strait, arriving there on May 23 with a fleet of 23 galleys, 7 galleys, 28 sailing ships (or 24 galleys, 6 galleasses, and 13 ships) and smaller ships, which, although not perfectly efficient, counted on trained men and from high morale. After a further month of waiting, on 23 June the Turkish ships appeared: a hundred units, which shortly after noon on 6 June, taking advantage of the favorable wind, advanced towards the exit of the strait. The Venetians were deployed in three formations arranged in a semicircle, so as to block the entire passage from the European to the Asian coast. The Turkish ships, protected from the ground by their forts, initially turned to the center of the semicircle, where Marcello himself was. The commander placed himself at the center of the fighting without sparing himself: he was hit by a cannon as he was about to board an enemy ship and died in the arms of his lieutenant Giovanni Marcello, who covered his body so as not to demoralize the crews. Under the new command of Barbaro Badoer the Venetians achieved tremendous success, with dozens of enemy ships captured or destroyed. It was Lazzaro Mocenigo who brought news of the victory to his homeland, together with the body of Marcello who, after the state funeral, was buried in the family tomb in San Vidal. The family members received numerous rewards and his brother Girolamo received the title of knight of San Marco. His inheritance, as reported in his testament of 1652, was enjoyed by some religious and welfare institutions, his serfs and relatives, while the bulk of his patrimony (about 75,000 ducats) went to his great-grandchildren, sons of the favorite nephew Andrea. Honours The Italian Navy have named two submarines after him and the name was also given to an Italian liner (1,413 grt, 234 ft. long) built in the 1920s and sunk in 1943. References External links Short Biography at the Italian Navy website 1603 births 1656 deaths Republic of Venice admirals 17th-century Italian military personnel Republic of Venice military personnel killed in action Republic of Venice people of the Ottoman–Venetian Wars Cretan War (1645–1669)