:Italian cruiser Basilicata

{{main|Campania-class cruiser}}

{{lang|it|Basilicata}} was {{convert|83|m|sp=us}} long overall and had a beam of {{convert|12.7|m|abbr=on}} and a draft of {{convert|5|m|abbr=on}}. She displaced {{cvt|2483|LT|lk=on}} normally and up to {{convert|3187|LT|sp=us}} at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of vertical triple-expansion steam engines each driving a single screw propeller. Steam was supplied by four coal-fired, cylindrical fire-tube boilers that were vented into a single funnel. Her engines were rated at {{convert|4129|ihp|lk=in}} and produced a top speed of {{convert|15.5|kn|lk=in}}. The ship had a cruising radius of about {{convert|1850|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}. She had a crew of 11 officers and 193 enlisted men.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=262}}

{{lang|it|Basilicata}} was armed with a main battery of six QF 6 inch /40 naval gun L/40 guns mounted singly; one was placed on the forecastle, one at the stern, and two on each broadside in sponsons on the main deck. She was also equipped with two Cannon 76/40 Model 1916 L40 guns, three 76 mm L/40 guns in anti-aircraft mountings, two Ordnance QF 3-pounder Vickers guns, and a pair of machine guns. The ship was only lightly armored, with a {{convert|25|mm|abbr=on}} thick deck, and {{cvt|50|mm|0}} thick plating on her conning tower.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=262}}

{{lang|it|Basilicata}} was laid down at the Castellammare shipyard on 9 August 1913, the same day as {{lang|it|Campania}}. Both ships were built on the same slipway. They were launched less than a year later on 23 July 1914. Fitting-out work proceeded more slowly on {{lang|it|Basilicata}}, and she was completed on 1 August 1917, four months after her sister ship. After completion, {{lang|it|Basilicata}} was stationed in Italian Libya.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=262}}{{sfn|Marshall|p=33}}

On 13 August 1919, while moored in Tewfik at the southern end of the Suez Canal, one of {{lang|it|Basilicata}}{{'}}s boilers exploded, which sank the ship. Salvage operations began thereafter, and on 12 September 1920 after three days of work, the ship was refloated. The {{lang|it|Regia Marina}} decided that repairing the ship was not worth the cost, and so on 1 July 1921 she was sold to ship breakers in Suez.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=262}}{{sfn|Marshall|p=33}}{{sfn|Fitzsimons|p=523}}

{{reflist|20em}}

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|year=1979

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|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921

|year=1985

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| url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_z3o0

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• {{cite book

|editor-last=Marshall

|editor-first=Chris

|title=The Encyclopedia of Ships: The History and Specifications of Over 1200 Ships

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}}

• [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/ABCD/basilicata.aspx Basilicata] Marina Militare website {{in lang|it}}

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Campania-class cruiser}}

{{1919 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basilicata}}

Category:Campania-class cruisers

Category:Ships built in Castellammare di Stabia

Category:1914 ships

Category:World War I cruisers of Italy

Category:Maritime incidents in 1919

Category:Ships sunk by non-combat internal explosions