:Italian cruiser Marsala

{{main|Nino Bixio-class cruiser}}

File:Marsala plan and profile.jpg

The {{sclass|Nino Bixio|cruiser|1}}s were ordered in response to the development of fast light cruisers by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the early 1900s. They were intended to supplement the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Quarto||2}} to serve as scouts for the main battle fleet. Two ships, {{lang|it|Marsala}} and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Nino Bixio||2}}, were ordered during the tenure of Admiral Carlo Mirabello as the Minister of the Navy.{{sfn|Cernuschi|p=149}}

{{lang|it|Marsala}} was {{convert|140.3|m|sp=us|ftin}} long at the waterline, with a beam of {{convert|13|m|abbr=on|ftin}} and a draft of {{convert|4.1|m|abbr=on|ftin}}. She displaced {{convert|3575|LT|sp=us}} normally and up to {{convert|4141|LT|sp=us|abbr=on}} at full load. She had a short forecastle deck and a pair of pole masts. Her crew consisted 13 officers and 283 enlisted men.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}}

The ship's propulsion system consisted of three steam turbines, each driving a screw propeller. Steam was provided by fourteen mixed coal and oil firing Blechynden boilers, which were vented into four widely spaced funnels. The engines were rated at {{convert|23000|shp|lk=in}} for a top speed of {{convert|27.66|kn|lk=in}}. She had a cruising range of {{convert|1400|nmi|lk=in}} at an economical speed of {{convert|13|kn}}.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}} The ship's propulsion system proved to be unreliable in service.{{sfn|Cernuschi|p=149}}

{{lang|it|Marsala}} was armed with a main battery of six {{convert|120|mm|abbr=on}} L/50 guns mounted singly.L/50 refers to the length of the gun in terms of caliber. She was also equipped with a secondary battery of six {{cvt|76|mm|0}} L/50 guns, which provided close-range defense against torpedo boats. She also carried two {{cvt|450|mm|1}} torpedo tubes submerged in the hull. {{lang|it|Marsala}} also had a capacity to carry 200 naval mines. The ship was only lightly armored, with a {{convert|38|mm|abbr=on}} thick deck, and {{convert|100|mm|abbr=on}} thick plating on her main conning tower.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}}

{{lang|it|Marsala}}{{'}}s keel was laid down at the {{lang|it|Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia}} shipyard on 15 February 1911, the same day as {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}}. Work on {{lang|it|Marsala}} proceeded slower than on her sister, and she was launched on 24 March 1912, where she was named for the city where Giuseppe Garibaldi launched the Expedition of the Thousand in 1860. After completing fitting-out work, the ship was commissioned into the Italian fleet on 4 August 1914.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}} {{lang|it|Marsala}} was thereafter assigned to the 1st Division of the 2nd Squadron; the squadron consisted of two divisions of armored cruisers, each supported by a scout cruiser.{{sfn|Pribram|p=262}}

Italy, a member of the Central Powers, declared neutrality at the start of World War I in August 1914, but by May 1915, the Triple Entente had convinced the Italians to enter the war against their former allies. Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, the Italian naval chief of staff, believed that Austro-Hungarian submarines could operate too effectively in the narrow waters of the Adriatic, which could also be easily seeded with minefields. The threat from these underwater weapons was too serious for him to use the fleet in an active way. Instead, Revel decided to implement a blockade at the relatively safer southern end of the Adriatic with the main fleet, while smaller vessels, such as the MAS boats, conducted raids on Austro-Hungarian ships and installations.{{sfn|Halpern 1995|pp=140–142, 150}}

At the time Italy entered the war, {{lang|it|Marsala}} was out of service to be converted to oil-fired boilers. After returning to service in February 1916, she was based at Brindisi in southern Italy to support the Otranto Barrage, along with the protected cruisers {{ship|Italian cruiser|Puglia||2}}, {{ship|Italian cruiser|Libia||2}}, {{lang|it|Quarto}}, and {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}}, and several destroyers and submarines. The British contributed four cruisers of the British Adriatic Squadron: the light cruisers {{HMS|Weymouth|1910|6}} and {{HMS|Bristol|1910|2}} and the protected cruisers {{HMS|Topaze|1903|2}} and {{HMS|Sapphire|1904|2}}. Two French armored cruisers and twelve destroyers rounded out the light forces available to patrol the area.{{sfn|Henderson|pp=352–353}}{{sfn|O'Hara, Dickson, & Worth|pp=183–184}}

By May 1917, the reconnaissance forces at Brindisi had come under the command of Rear Admiral Alfredo Acton.{{sfn|Halpern 2004|p=20}} On the night of 14–15 May, the Austro-Hungarian cruisers {{lang|de|Helgoland}}, {{SMS|Novara|1912|2}}, and {{SMS|Saida|1912|2}} and several destroyers raided the Otranto Barrage, a patrol line of drifters intended to block Austro-Hungarian and German U-boats.{{sfn|Halpern 1995|pp=162–163}} {{lang|it|Marsala}} was the only Italian cruiser with steam up in her boilers when word of the Austro-Hungarian attack reached Brindisi.{{sfn|Halpern 2004|p=50}} The British cruisers {{HMS|Dartmouth|1911|6}} and Bristol departed first, along with five Italian destroyers. {{lang|it|Marsala}}, the flotilla leader {{ship|Italian flotilla leader|Racchia||2}}, and three destroyers followed thereafter,{{sfn|Halpern 1995|p=163}} leaving Brindisi at around 8:30. They initially steamed east toward Valona before turning north to join Acton's forces pursuing the Austro-Hungarians.{{sfn|Newbolt|pp=303–304}} {{lang|it|Marsala}} briefly engaged the fleeing Austro-Hungarians in the Battle of the Otranto Straits, before Acton temporarily broke off the pursuit.{{sfn|Halpern 1995|p=165}} By around 11:00, Acton had seen Austro-Hungarian reinforcements steaming south, leading him to turn south with the two British cruisers to join {{lang|it|Marsala}}{{'}}s group. Having united his forces by around 11:30, Acton turned north once again to try to catch the damaged {{lang|de|Novara}}, but half an hour later, the powerful armored cruiser {{SMS|Sankt Georg}} had reached the scene. Unable to engage the heavily armed vessel, Acton broke off again and returned to port.{{sfn|Newbolt|pp=304–305}}{{sfn|Halpern 2004|pp=91–97}}

Following the end of the war in November 1918, the {{lang|it|Regia Marina}} demobilized; severely reduced naval budgets—the result of a weakened Italian economy in the early 1920s—led to further draw-downs.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=254}}{{sfn|Goldstein & Maurer|p=225}} {{lang|it|Marsala}}{{'}}s engines were plagued with problems throughout her career, which made the ship an obvious target in the effort to trim the {{lang|it|Regia Marina}}{{'}}s budget. She was stricken from the naval register on 27 November 1927 and subsequently broken up for scrap.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}}

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

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

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Nino Bixio-class cruiser}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsala}}

Category:Nino Bixio-class cruisers

Category:1912 ships

Category:Ships built in Castellammare di Stabia