Italian cruiser Etna
 Etna in the 1890s, probably during her 1893 visit to the United States
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Italy | |
| Name | Etna |
| Namesake | Mount Etna |
| Builder | Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia |
| Laid down | 19 January 1883 |
| Launched | 26 September 1885 |
| Commissioned | 3 December 1887 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 15 May 1921 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 3,474 long tons (3,530 t) |
| Length | 283 ft 6 in (86.4 m) |
| Beam | 42 ft 6 in (13 m) |
| Draft | 19 ft (5.8 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Range | 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 12 officers and 296 men |
| Armament |
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| Armor |
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Etna was a
Etna frequently cruised abroad throughout her career, including visits to the United States for the World's Columbian Exposition and the Hudson–Fulton Celebration in 1893 and 1909, respectively. She served as a training ship for naval cadets from 1907. She saw action during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, primarily providing gunfire support to Italian troops ashore in Libya. By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Etna had been withdrawn from service and was employed as a headquarters ship for the commander of the Italian fleet at Taranto and later for the light forces based at Brindisi. The old cruiser was finally sold for scrap in May 1921.
Design
The four ships of the Etna class were designed in Italy as domestically produced versions of the British-built cruiser Giovanni Bausan. The Italian government secured a manufacturing license from the British firm Armstrong Whitworth, but the design was revised by the Italian naval engineer Carlo Vigna. These cruisers were intended to serve as "battleship destroyers",[1][2] and represented a temporary embrace of the Jeune École doctrine by the Italian naval command.[3]
Etna was 283 feet 6 inches (86.4 m)
The
From 1905 to 1907 the ship was rebuilt with
Service history
Etna was built by the
During the
Etna saw limited action during the Italo-Turkish War in 1911–1912. At the outbreak of the war in September 1911, she was stationed in eastern Africa, where Italy had colonies in Eritrea and Somaliland. She was joined there by the cruisers Elba, Liguria, Piemonte and Puglia. In December 1911, she was stationed at Tobruk, where she, the battleship Vittorio Emanuele, the cruiser Etruria, and twelve torpedo boats provided gunfire support to the Italians defending the city. She remained there through January 1912 while the bulk of the Italian fleet returned to Italy for repairs. In April, Etna bombarded Ottoman positions outside Benghazi, and in August, she sent men ashore at Zuwarah to relieve the garrison there. On 13 September she shelled Ottoman troops near the ruins of ancient Tripoli. The following month, the Ottomans agreed to surrender, ending the war.[13]
In September 1914, Etna was withdrawn from service as a training ship and used instead as a floating headquarters. Italy entered World War I in May 1915 and the ship was thereafter used as a harbor defense ship before returning to her previous role as a headquarters ship for the commander in chief of the Italian fleet at Taranto.[2] By May 1917, she had been transferred to Brindisi, where she served as the headquarters ship for Rear Admiral Alfredo Acton during the Battle of the Strait of Otranto.[14] The old cruiser was sold for scrapping on 15 May 1921, and was the last surviving ship of her class.[2]
Notes
- ^ Brook, pp. 97, 99.
- ^ a b c d e f Fraccaroli, p. 348.
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 149.
- ^ a b c d Brook, p. 97.
- ^ Neal, pp. 99–100.
- ^ Peters, p. 10.
- ^ The Eastern Crisis, p. 28.
- ^ Garbett February 1897, p. 232.
- ^ Garbett June 1897, p. 789.
- ^ Cresciani, p. 42.
- ^ Garbett 1904, p. 1430.
- ^ Kunz, pp. 317–318.
- ^ Beehler, pp. 10, 47–50, 65, 91–95.
- ^ Halpern, p. 70.
References
- Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War: September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. OCLC 1408563.
- Brook, Peter (2003). "Armstrongs and the Italian Navy". In Preston, Antony (ed.). Warship 2002–2003. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 94–115. ISBN 978-0-85177-926-3.
- Cresciani, Gianfranco (2003). The Italians in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53778-0.
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1979). "Italy". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 334–359. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
- Garbett, H., ed. (February 1897). "Naval Notes". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. XLI (228). London: J. J. Keliher & Co.: 224–237. OCLC 8007941.
- Garbett, H., ed. (June 1897). "Naval Notes—Italy". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. XLI (232). London: J. J. Keliher & Co.: 779–792. OCLC 8007941.
- Garbett, H., ed. (1904). "Naval Notes—The Organisation of the Fleets". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. XLVIII (322). London: J. J. Keliher & Co.: 1418–1434. OCLC 8007941.
- Halpern, Paul (2004). The Battle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in World War I. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-11019-0.
- Kunz, George Frederick (October 1909). "The Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909". The Popular Science Monthly. Vol. LXXV, no. 4. New York: The Science Press. pp. 313–337.
- Neal, William George, ed. (1899). "The International Naval Review at New York and the Opening of the Chicago Exposition". The Marine Architect. XV. London: Office for Advertisements and Publication: 97–101. OCLC 2448426.
- "The Eastern Crisis". The Cyclopedic Review of Current History. 7 (1). Boston: New England Publishing: 28. 1897.
- Peters, George H. (August 1893). "The International Columbian Naval Rendezvous and Review of April, 1893". The International Columbian Naval Rendezvous and Review of 1893 and Naval Manoeuvres of 1892. General Information Series. Vol. XII. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. pp. 7–19. OCLC 6949802 – via Google Books. Via archive.org
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21478-0.
External links
- Etna Marina Militare website
