Italian cruiser Varese
 Varese in October 1904
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Kingdom of Italy | |
| Name | Varese |
| Namesake | Battle of Varese |
| Builder | Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando, Livorno |
| Laid down | 21 April 1898 |
| Launched | 6 August 1899 |
| Completed | 5 April 1901 |
| Reclassified | As training ship, 1920 |
| Stricken | 4 January 1923 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruiser |
| Displacement | 7,350 metric tons (7,234 long tons) |
| Length | 111.8 m (366 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 18.2 m (59 ft 9 in) |
| Draft | 7.3 m (23 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range | 5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
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Varese was a
Design and description
Varese had an
Her main armament consisted of one
The ship's waterline armor belt had a maximum thickness of 150 millimeters (5.9 in) amidships and tapered to 80 millimeters (3.1 in) towards the ends of the ship. The conning tower, casemates, and gun turrets were also protected by 150-millimeter armor. Her protective deck armor was 37 millimeters (1.5 in) thick and the 152-millimeter guns on the upper deck were protected by gun shields 50 millimeters (2.0 in) thick.[1]
Construction and service
Varese, named after the
When the Italo-Turkish War began on 29 September 1911, Varese assigned to the 4th Division of the 2nd Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet, together with her sisters Giuseppe Garibaldi and Francesco Ferruccio. While her sisters bombarded Tripoli on 3–4 October, Varese appears to have been deployed seaward to provide security for the Italians. On 13 October, the three sisters sailed to Augusta, Sicily to recoal. The ship escorted two troop transports and a hospital ship on her return voyage several days later. On 16 October, she escorted a troop convoy to Homs and bombarded the town after the Ottoman commander refused to surrender. Bad weather prevented any landings until 21 October and the ship continued to provide fire support for the Italian troops.[10]
Varese and Giuseppe Garibaldi were in Tobruk in January 1912 while the bulk of the fleet was refitting in Italy.[11] Varese is sometimes credited with participating in the bombardment of Beirut on 24 February 1912, but it seems most probable that this was done by her sisters Francesco Ferruccio and Giuseppe Garibaldi.[Note 1] On 18 April Varese and Giuseppe Garibaldi bombarded the fortifications at the entrance to the Dardanelles, heavily damaging them.[15] After returning to Italy later that month, Varese began a refit that included replacing her worn-out guns and lasted through mid-June.[16]
When Italy declared war on the Central Powers in May 1915, the ship was assigned to the 5th Cruiser Division, based at Brindisi. On 5 June the division bombarded rail lines near Ragusa and departed Brindisi on the evening of 17 July to do the same near Ragusa Vecchia the following morning. Shortly after beginning the bombardment at 04:00, Giuseppe Garibaldi was torpedoed by the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-4; one torpedo passed between Varese and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Struck by a single torpedo, the cruiser sank within minutes, although only 53 crewmen were killed. The division immediately retreated to avoid further attacks, leaving three destroyers behind to rescue survivors.[17] The loss of Giuseppe Garibaldi and the sinking of the armored cruiser Amalfi by another submarine on 7 July severely restricted the activities of the other ships based at Venice.[18]
On 15 May 1917, as the Austro-Hungarian Fleet was preparing to attack the Otranto Barrage that blocked the exit from the Adriatic Sea, Varese was at the port of Butrino on the north coast of Corfu. She did not, however, sortie in response to the Austro-Hungarian movements.[19] She became a cadet training ship from 1920 to 1922. She was stricken on 4 January 1923 and scrapped.[5]
Notes
- ^ Sources are contradictory about which ships performed the bombardment. Gardiner & Gray credit Garibaldi and Varese in the histories of the two Ottoman ships,[12] but also says that all three sisters were present.[5] Silverstone also credits all three ships,[13] but the consensus is that it was Garibaldi and Ferruccio.[14]
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Freivogel, p. 43
- ^ Steam Trials–Italy
- ^ Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 351
- ^ Silverstone, p. 307
- ^ a b c Gardiner & Gray, p. 256
- ^ a b c Marchese
- ^ Professional Notes–Italy
- ^ Curtis, pp. 98–99
- ^ Yarsinske, p. 117
- ^ Beehler, pp. 9, 19–21, 24, 30–31
- ^ Beehler, p. 50
- ^ Gardiner & Gray, pp. 389, 392
- ^ Silverstone, pp. 298–99, 307
- ^ Beehler, pp. 56–58; Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 16; Sondhaus 2001, p. 218; Stephenson, p. 254
- ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 16
- ^ Beehler, p. 79
- ^ Freivogel, pp. 40, 46–47
- ^ Halpern 1994, pp. 148, 151; Sondhaus 1994, p. 289
- ^ Halpern 2004, p. 52
Bibliography
- Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War: September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute.
- Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Curtis, W. D. (1907). The Log of H.M.S. Cumberland, 2nd Cruiser Squadron, 1904–1906. The Log Series. Westminster, UK: The Westminster Press (Gerrards Ltd.).
- Freivogel, Zvonimir (2012). Jordan, John (ed.). The Loss of the Giuseppe Garibaldi. Warship 2012. London: Conway. pp. 40–51. ISBN 978-1-84486-156-9.
- Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Halpern, Paul (2004). The Battle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in World War I. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34379-8.
- Halpern, Paul S. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-352-4.
- Langensiepen, Bernd; Güleryüz, Ahmet (1995). The Ottoman Steam Navy 1828–1923. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-610-1.
- Marchese, Giuseppe (February 1996). "La Posta Militare della Marina Italiana 9^ puntata". La Posta Militare (72).
- "Professional Notes–Italy". Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute. XXXI, 4 (116). Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute: 1004–05. December 1905.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918: Navalism, Industrial Development, and the Politics of Dualism. OCLC 59919233.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21478-0.
- Stephenson, Charles (2014). A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911–1912: The First Land, Sea and Air War. Ticehurst, UK: Tattered Flag Press. ISBN 978-0-9576892-7-5.
- United States Office of Naval Intelligence, United States Navy (July 1901). "Steam Trials–Italy". Notes on Naval Progress (XX). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office: 137.
- Yarsinske, Amy Waters (1999). Jamestown Exposition: American Imperialism on Parade. Vol. I. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-0102-6.
Further reading
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0105-3.
External links
- Varese Marina Militare website
 Regia Marina | |
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 Garibaldi class |
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 Imperial Japanese NavyKasuga class | |
 Spanish Navy |
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