The () was the most senior peacetime office in the Venetian navy and in charge of governing the Venetian overseas empire.
The was the supreme commander of the Venetian fleet in peacetime. In wartime, he was replaced by the , with more ample powers. The office usually had a tenure of three years, but in wartime, the nomination of a new was usually accompanied also by the election of a new . From the first half of the 16th century, he also appears as the governor of the Venetian Ionian Islands. Eventually this appointment became regularized, as the ; with his seat at Corfu, the was the senior civil and military governor of the Ionian Islands in peacetime.
Typically he hoisted his ensign on a bastard galley, although in later times he was allowed to use a sailing ship of the line instead. As a sign of his command, the poop deck of his vessel bore three lanterns.
In wartime, due to his absence at the head of the fleet, he was sometimes replaced by a (), referring to Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos, renamed to after the addition of Lefkada to the Venetian domains in 1684.
The office was abolished after the Fall of the Republic of Venice and the start of French rule in the Ionian Islands in June 1797.
The following held the post of from 1684 till 1797.