Italian ironclad Formidabile
.jpg) Formidabile
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Kingdom of Italy | |
| Name | Formidabile |
| Laid down | December 1860 |
| Launched | 1 October 1861 |
| Completed | May 1862 |
| Stricken | 1903 |
| Fate | Broken up |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Formidabile-class ironclad warship |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 65.8 m (215 ft 11 in) |
| Beam | 14.44 m (47 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 5.45 m (17 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Range | 1,300 nmi (2,400 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 371 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | Belt armor: 109 mm (4.3 in) |
Formidabile was the
The ship took part in the operation off Lissa in 1866 during the Third Italian War of Independence. There, she silenced the Austrian coastal batteries protecting the main port, but she was too badly damaged to take part in the ensuing Battle of Lissa. The ship's postwar career was limited due to a combination of drastically reduced naval budgets and the appearance of more modern ironclads. Formidabile was used as a training ship starting in 1887; she was discarded in 1903 and broken up for scrap.
Design
Formidabile was 65.8 meters (215 ft 11 in)
Formidabile was a
Service history
Formidabile was
Rear Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff brought the Austrian fleet to Ancona on 27 June, in attempt to draw out the Italians. Persano held a council of war aboard the ironclad Principe di Carignano to determine whether he should sortie to engage Tegetthoff, but by that time, the Austrians had withdrawn, making the decision moot. The Minister of the Navy, Agostino Depretis, urged Persano to act and suggested he capture the island of Lissa, to restore Italian confidence after their defeat at the Battle of Custoza the previous month. On 7 July, Persano left Ancona and conducted a sweep into the Adriatic, but encountered no Austrian ships and returned on the 13th.[5]
Battle of Lissa
On 16 July, Persano took the Italian fleet out of Ancona, bound for Lissa, where they arrived on the 18th. With them, they brought troop transports carrying 3,000 soldiers; the Italian warships began bombarding the Austrian forts on the island, with the intention of landing the soldiers once the fortresses had been silenced. In response, the Austrian Navy sent the fleet under Tegetthoff to attack the Italian ships.
Upon entering the small harbor, the Italians found it impossible for the four ships to attack simultaneously, and so Formidabile was left to engage the Madonna battery alone. Following the conclusion of the bombardment, the ship's captain, Simone Antonio Saint-Bon, reported to Persano that his ship had suffered over 50 casualties, and it had been significantly damaged by Austrian fire, though its armor had not been penetrated. Saint-Bon took his battered ship to the west, where he transferred his wounded to a hospital ship. The following day, while Formidabile was with the hospital ship, the Austrian fleet under Tegetthoff appeared. Persano had ordered Formidabile to return to the line, but Saint-Bon informed Persano that his ship was unable to fight, and instead he withdrew to Ancona. The Italians were defeated in the ensuing battle, with the ironclads Re d'Italia and Palestro sunk.[8]
Later career
After the battle, Persano was replaced by Admiral
As of October 1871, Formidabile was stationed in
Notes
- ^ a b c d Fraccaroli, p. 337.
- ^ Fraccaroli, pp. 334, 337.
- ^ Sondhaus 1994, p. 1.
- ^ Greene & Massignani, pp. 217–222.
- ^ Wilson, pp. 216–218.
- ^ Sondhaus 1994, pp. 1–2.
- ^ Wilson, pp. 219–223.
- ^ Wilson, pp. 223, 225, 232, 238–241, 250.
- ^ Wilson, p. 251.
- ^ Fraccaroli, p. 336.
- ^ Sondhaus 2001, p. 112.
- ^ Dupont, p. 426.
- ^ Ordovini, Petronio, & Sullivan, p. 328.
References
- Dupont, Paul, ed. (1872). "Notes sur La Marine Et Les Ports Militaires de L'Italie" [Notes on the Navy and Military Ports of Italy]. La Revue Maritime et Coloniale [The Naval and Colonial Review] (in French). XXXII. Paris: Imprimerie Administrative de Paul Dupont: 415–430.
- 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.
- Greene, Jack; Massignani, Alessandro (1998). Ironclads at War: The Origin and Development of the Armored Warship, 1854–1891. Pennsylvania: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-938289-58-6.
- Ordovini, Aldo F.; Petronio, Fulvio & Sullivan, David M. (December 2014). "Capital Ships of the Royal Italian Navy, 1860–1918: Part I: The Formidabile, Principe di Carignano, Re d'Italia, Regina Maria Pia, Affondatore, Roma and Principe Amedeo Classes". ISSN 0043-0374.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-034-9.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21478-0.
- OCLC 1111061.
External links
- Formidabile Marina Militare website (in Italian)
