Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci
 Postcard of Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Italy | |
| Name | Leonardo da Vinci |
| Namesake | Leonardo da Vinci |
| Builder | Odero, Genoa-Sestri Ponente |
| Laid down | 18 July 1910 |
| Launched | 14 October 1911 |
| Completed | 17 May 1914 |
| Fate |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Conte di Cavour-class battleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 176 m (577 ft 5 in) (o/a) |
| Beam | 28 m (91 ft 10 in) |
| Draft | 9.3 m (30 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | 4 × shafts; 3 × steam turbine sets |
| Speed | 21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph) |
| Range | 4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 31 officers and 969 enlisted men |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
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Leonardo da Vinci was the last of three
Design and description
The Conte di Cavour class was designed to counter the French
Armament and armor
The
The Conte di Cavour-class ships had a complete waterline armor belt that had a maximum thickness of 250 millimeters (9.8 in) amidships, which reduced to 130 millimeters (5.1 in) towards the stern and 80 millimeters (3.1 in) towards the bow. They had two armored decks: the main deck was 24 mm (0.94 in) thick on the flat that increased to 40 millimeters (1.6 in) on the slopes that connected it to the main belt. The second deck was 30 millimeters (1.2 in) thick. Frontal armor of the gun turrets was 280 millimeters (11 in) in thickness and the sides were 240 millimeters (9.4 in) thick. The armor protecting their barbettes ranged in thickness from 130 to 230 millimeters (5.1 to 9.1 in). The walls of the forward conning tower were 280 millimeters thick.[7][8]
Construction and service
Leonardo da Vinci, named after the
Sinking
She
The Regia Marina wanted to raise the ship and rejected initial plans to demolish the wreck with explosives. They ultimately settled on a plan to make the ship's hull airtight and raise it using compressed air and
All of this preparation required over two years and the ship was refloated on 17 September 1919. A deep channel had been dredged from her location to the drydock and she was moved there. A special wooden framework had to be built to support her, still inverted, after the water in the drydock had been drained.
Footnotes
- ^ Giorgerini, p. 269
- ^ a b c Fraccaroli, p. 259
- ^ Giorgerini, pp. 270, 272
- ^ Giorgerini, pp. 268, 272
- ^ a b Hore, p. 175
- ^ Giorgerini, pp. 268, 277–278
- ^ Giorgerini, pp. 270–272
- ^ McLaughlin, p. 421
- ^ Silverstone, p. 300
- ^ Giorgerini, p. 272
- ^ Halpern, pp. 141–142, 150
- ^ Giorgerini, pp. 272, 277
- ^ Allen, p. 23
- ^ Whitley, pp. 157–158
- ^ Caruana, pp. 426–427
- ^ Allen, pp. 24–26
- ^ a b Allen, p. 26
- ^ Whitley, p. 158
- ^ Preston, p. 176
References
- Allen, M. J. (1964). "The Loss & Salvage of the "Leonardo da Vinci"". Warship International. I (Reprint): 23–26. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Caruana, Joseph, ed. (1973). "Question 20/73: The Loss of the Italian Battleship Leonardo da Vinci". Warship International. X (4): 426–427. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
- Giorgerini, Giorgio (1980). "The Cavour & Duilio Class Battleships". In Roberts, John (ed.). Warship IV. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 267–279. ISBN 0-85177-205-6.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-352-4.
- Hore, Peter (2005). Battleships. London: Lorenz Books. ISBN 0-7548-1407-6.
- McLaughlin, Stephen (2003). Russian & Soviet Battleships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-481-4.
- ISBN 0-88365-300-1.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
- ISBN 1-55750-184-X.
Further reading
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0105-3.
- Stille, Mark (2011). Italian Battleships of World War II. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-831-2.
External links
- World War I Document Archive: Ship Photo Gallery
- A naïve ex-voto (votive painting playing the same role as a church ship in Italian culture) depicting the explosion on board the ship is in the chapel of Trecastagni (Sicily), donated by a sailor who "miraculously" escaped the blast.
- Leonardo da Vinci on the Marina Militare website
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in August 1916 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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