Nino Bixio-class cruiser
Illustration of Marsala
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Class overview | |
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Name | Nino Bixio class |
Operators | Regia Marina |
Preceded by | Quarto |
Succeeded by | Campania class |
Built | 1911–1914 |
In commission | 1914–1929 |
Completed | 2 |
Scrapped | 2 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Protected cruiser |
Displacement |
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Length | 140.3 m (460 ft 4 in) |
Beam | 13 m (42 ft 8 in) |
Draft | 4.1 m (13 ft 5 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 26.82 to 27.66 kn (49.67 to 51.23 km/h; 30.86 to 31.83 mph) |
Range | 1,400 nmi (2,600 km; 1,600 mi) at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Armor |
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The Nino Bixio class was a pair of protected cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1910s. The two ships, Nino Bixio, and Marsala, were built in Castellammare between 1911 and 1914. They were intended to serve as scouts for the main Italian fleet, and as such required a high top speed. They were overweight as built, which prevented them from reaching their intended maximum speed. They were a disappointment in service, especially compared to the earlier—and faster—cruiser Quarto, which cut their careers short.
Both ships saw limited action during World War I, largely a result of the cautious strategies employed by the Regia Marina and its opponent, the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Nino Bixio was involved in the pursuit of a group of Austro-Hungarian raiders in December 1915, but did not engage them before they escaped. Marsala briefly battled Austro-Hungarian cruisers during the Battle of the Otranto Straits in May 1917. Both ships were sold for scrapping in the late 1920s, the victims of very tight naval budgets and their own poor performance.
Design
In the early 1900s, the major naval powers were grappling with shifting technological, tactical, and strategic developments. For the later decades of the 19th century, the Italian fleet was oriented against the French Navy. But by the early 1900s, Italian navy officers returned to viewing their traditional rival across the Adriatic Sea, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, as the primary threat. At the same time, the development of more effective fire-control systems allowed ships to fight at longer ranges, and tactical developments identified during the recent Russo-Japanese War (specifically the concept of crossing the T) led to the need for high-speed fleet scouts so that commanders could maneuver their fleet more effectively. The Austro-Hungarians developed the light cruiser Admiral Spaun to fill this need, which prompted the Italian response with the protected cruiser Quarto. Before work on Quarto was completed, the Italian Minister of the Navy, Admiral Carlo Mirabello, ordered two more ships, which became the Nino Bixio class, to supplement Quarto.[1] These ships were designed by Engineering Captain Giuseppe Rota, along similar lines to the cruiser Quarto.[2]
General characteristics and machinery
The ships were 131.4 meters (431 ft 1 in)
The ships' propulsion system consisted of three Curtiss
Both ships were a disappointment, especially compared to the older but faster Quarto. The Curtiss turbines, built in Italy under license, proved to be unreliable in service, and they could not propel the ships at their intended speed. Repeated efforts to correct the defects and modify the boilers failed to produce the desired results.[5] The Nino Bixio-class ships had a cruising range of 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km; 1,600 mi) at an economical speed of 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph).[2][4]
Armament
The ships were armed with a
The ships were also equipped with a secondary battery of six 76 mm (3 in) L/50 guns,[2] the same Pattern ZZI type guns used on the Italian dreadnoughts,[8] which provided close range defense against torpedo boats. These guns weighed 1.14 t (1.12 long tons; 1.26 short tons) and fired 5.6 kg (12 lb) and 7 kg (15 lb) shells at 815 m/s (2,670 ft/s). They had a rate of fire of 15 shells per minute.[7] Four of the guns were placed on the forecastle, astern of the main battery guns; two were abreast the conning tower, while the other pair were en echelon with the first set of funnels. The remaining two guns were placed further aft, abreast the superfiring main battery gun.[9] They were also armed with two 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes submerged in the hull; they were located amidships, one tube per broadside. The ships were also fitted with equipment to store and launch 200 naval mines.[2][10]
Ships
Name | Builder[2] | Laid down[2] | Launched[2] | Commissioned[2] |
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Nino Bixio | Castellammare
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15 February 1911 | 31 December 1911 | 5 May 1914 |
Marsala | Castellammare | 15 February 1911 | 24 March 1912 | 4 August 1914 |
Service history
Nino Bixio had entered service just before the start of World War I in July 1914, but Italy had initially declared neutrality at the start of the conflict, despite having been allied to Germany and Austria-Hungary. By May 1915, the Triple Entente had convinced the Italian government to enter the war against their erstwhile allies. The main Italian fleet was kept at the southern end of the Adriatic, at Brindisi, and in the Mediterranean, at Taranto, where it would be safe from Austro-Hungarian U-boats. The Austro-Hungarians, meanwhile, employed a fleet in being strategy while conducting raids with small craft and U-boats.[11] For the duration of the war, Nino Bixio and Marsala were stationed at Brindisi, where they could quickly respond to Austro-Hungarian raids.[12] In December 1915, Nino Bixio and several other warships, including British cruisers, sortied in response to an Austro-Hungarian attack on transports supplying the Serbian Army through Albania. Nino Bixio pursued the cruiser SMS Helgoland before the latter escaped under cover of darkness.[13]
Marsala saw action during the
Footnotes
Notes
Citations
- ^ Cernuschi, pp. 148–49.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Fraccaroli, p. 263.
- ^ James, pp. 395–396.
- ^ a b Alger, p. 645.
- ^ Cernuschi, p. 149.
- ^ Friedman, p. 96.
- ^ a b c Fraccaroli, p. 254.
- ^ Friedman, p. 108.
- ^ James, p. 395.
- ^ James, p. 396.
- ^ Halpern 1995, pp. 140–142.
- ^ O'Hara, Dickson, & Worth, pp. 183–184.
- ^ Halpern 1995, pp. 156–157.
- ^ Halpern 2004, p. 50.
- ^ Halpern 1995, p. 165.
- ^ Goldstein & Maurer, p. 225.
References
- Alger, Philip R., ed. (1911). "Italy: Vessels Building". Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute. Annapolis: US Naval Institute: 645. OCLC 61522996.
- Cernuschi, Enrico (2022). "Esploratori of the Regia Marina, 1906—1939". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2022. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 147–160. ISBN 978-1-4728-4781-2.
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Goldstein, Erik & Maurer, John H. (1994). The Washington Conference, 1921–22: Naval Rivalry, East Asian Stability and the Road to Pearl Harbor. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. ISBN 0-7146-4559-1.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-352-4.
- Halpern, Paul (2004). The Battle of the Otranto Straits: Controlling the Gateway to the Adriatic in World War I. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-11019-X.
- James, Reginald, ed. (1914). "Italian Scout Cruisers "Marsala" and "Quarto"". Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. XXXVI. London: R. Beresford: 394–397.
- O'Hara, Vincent; Dickson, David & Worth, Richard (2013). To Crown the Waves: The Great Navies of the First World War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-61251-082-8.
External links
- Classe Nino Bixio Marina Militare website (in Italian)