Thursday - They are declared on a war footing starting from the 30 June:
- Navy personnel embarked on vessels of the Oceanic Naval Force operating in the seas of China north of the 22 ° parallel latitude N;
- personnel landed on Chinese territory;
- the aforementioned personnel embarked both for service and for passage on the steamers hired by the State with destination north of the 22 ° parallel of latitude N starting from the day of embarkation for the Far East;
- the troops of the Royal Army forming the Corps of Operations in China.
It is the belated declaration of the state of war with China. The Chinese question had broken out finding the Italian government poorly prepared as the defense of national prestige still required to participate as soon as possible, along with the other nations, in the war that was about to loom. The 1 ° January 1902 ceases the state of war with the Chinese Empire, but not for the personnel landed and operating on the territory.
There is no doubt that the result achieved, although considered inferior to expectations, was also due to the abnegation of those one hundred and twenty landing sailors, who had behaved in such terms as to make their country earn credit. Among the fallen 19 of the Navy, the gold medal for military valor went to the memory of Lieutenant Lieutenant Ermanno Carlotto (Regia Nave Elba) and of the sub-chief of the torpedo boats Vincenzo Rossi (Regia Nave Calabria). Among the living, the vessel lieutenant Giuseppe Sirianni (Regia Nave Calabria) was awarded the military order of Savoy while the vessel lieutenant Federico Tommaso Paolini and second lieutenant Angelo Olivieri, both from Elba, were decorated with the medal of gold for military value.
