Principe Amedeo-class ironclad
![]() Painting of Principe Amedeo
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Principe Amedeo class |
Builders |
|
Operators | ![]() |
Preceded by | Affondatore |
Succeeded by | Duilio class |
Built | 1865–1875 |
In commission | 1874–1900 |
Completed | 2 |
Retired | 2 |
General characteristics [a] | |
Type | Ironclad warship |
Displacement |
|
Length | 79.73 m (261 ft 7 in) |
Beam | 17.4 m (57 ft 1 in) |
Draft | 7.9 m (25 ft 11 in) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 12.2 knots (22.6 km/h; 14.0 mph) |
Range | 1,780 nmi (3,300 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 548 |
Armament |
|
Armor |
|
The Principe Amedeo class was a pair of
Design
In 1862, the Italian government under Prime Minister Urbano Rattazzi and his naval minister Carlo Pellion di Persano made the decision to build a fleet of ironclad warships.[1] The Italian fleet had already acquired a pair of small, French-built armored frigates of the Formidabile class, and two more vessels of the Re d'Italia class had been ordered from the United States. Five more ironclads were ordered from foreign shipyards, three wooden steam frigates already under construction were converted into armored ships, and four more ironclads were ordered from Italian shipyards. The two Principe Amedeo-class ships were the last two of this first generation of Italian ironclads. The design for Principe Amedeo was prepared by Inspector Engineer Giuseppe De Luca. He had initially planned on using entirely wooden hulls for the ships, but had changed to composite wood and iron construction by the time the ships were laid down.[2]
General characteristics and machinery
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9f/Palestro_line_drawing.png/220px-Palestro_line_drawing.png)
The two ships differed slightly in size. Principe Amedeo was 79.73 meters (261 ft 7 in)
The ships' propulsion system consisted of one single-expansion
Armament and armor
Palestro and Principe Amedeo were both armed with a
The two ships were protected by iron belt armor that was 221 mm (8.7 in) thick and extended for the entire length of the hull. The casemates were protected with 140 mm (5.5 in) of iron plating, and the small conning tower had 61 mm (2.4 in) thick iron plates.[3]
Ships
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fa/Italian_ironclad_Palestro.jpg/220px-Italian_ironclad_Palestro.jpg)
Name | Builder[3] | Laid down[3] | Launched[3] | Completed[3] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Principe Amedeo | Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia | August 1865 | 15 January 1872 | 15 December 1874 |
Palestro | Arsenale di La Spezia
|
30 September or 2 October 1871 | 11 July 1875 |
Service history
Neither ship had a particularly eventful career. They were completed too late to take part in the final stages of the
In the late 1880s, both ships were withdrawn from frontline service and employed as
Footnotes
Notes
- ^ Figures are for Principe Amedeo
Citations
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 11.
- ^ Fraccaroli, pp. 337–340.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Fraccaroli, p. 340.
- ^ Clowes, p. 376.
- ^ Ordovini, Petronio, & Sullivan, p. 358.
- ^ London News, p. 278.
- ^ "Stray Foreign Facts" (PDF). The New York Times. 23 November 1881.
References
- Clowes, W. Laird (1905). The Naval Pocket-Book. London: W. Thacker & Co.
- 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.
- 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.
- "The Naval Demonstration in the Adriatic". The Illustrated London News. London: George C. Leighton. 18 September 1880. p. 278.
External links
- Principe Amedeo Marina Militare website (in Italian)