Goito-class cruiser

The first three members of the {{lang|it|Goito}} class was designed by Engineering General Inspector Benedetto Brin, while {{ship|Italian cruiser|Confienza||2}} was designed by Engineering Director Giacinto Pullino.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}} Brin had previously designed several classes of very large ironclad battleships, including the {{sclass|Duilio|ironclad|5}} and {{sclass|Italia|ironclad|4}}es, but by the 1880s, he had begun to embrace the ideas of the {{lang|fr|Jeune École}}, which emphasized small, fast, torpedo-armed vessels that could damage or destroy the much larger battleships at a fraction of the cost.{{sfn|Sondhaus|p=149}} The four {{lang|it|Goito}}s were similar to the preceding cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Tripoli||2}}, the first torpedo cruiser Brin designed. As these were among the initial designs prepared by the Italian navy, they were experimental; Brin and Pullino used different hull shapes for all four vessels and fitted them with a variety of propulsion systems and armament.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|pp=346–347}}

File:Italian cruiser Monzambano.jpg

As a result of their experimental nature, the ships of the {{lang|it|Goito}} class varied slightly in size. They all were {{convert|70|m|ftin|sp=us}} long at the waterline and {{convert|73.4|m|ftin|abbr=on}} long overall, but their beam varied from {{convert|7.88|to|8.05|m|ftin|abbr=on}} and their draft ranged from {{convert|3.04|to|3.6|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The ships were built with steel hulls. They displaced {{convert|756|to|856|LT|sp=us}} normally and {{convert|955|to|974|LT|sp=us}} at full load. They had a crew of between 105 and 121.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

The first three ships had similar propulsion systems that consisted of three steam engines, each driving a single screw propeller. {{ship|Italian cruiser|Goito||2}} and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Monzambano||2}} had double-expansion engines, while {{ship|Italian cruiser|Montebello||2}} had more advanced triple-expansion engines. {{lang|it|Confienza}} instead used a two-shaft configuration for her double-expansion engines. Steam for the engines was supplied by coal-fired locomotive boilers; {{lang|it|Goito}} and {{lang|it|Montebello}} had six boilers, while {{lang|it|Monzambano}} and {{lang|it|Confienza}} had four. The boilers for {{lang|it|Goito}} and {{lang|it|Monzambano}} were trunked into two funnels, {{lang|it|Montebello}} had three, and {{lang|it|Confienza}} only had one.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

Exact figures for the first three ships' performance have not survived, but they could steam at a speed of about {{convert|18|kn|lk=in}} from {{convert|2500|to|3180|ihp|lk=in}}. {{lang|it|Confienza}}, with only two screws, had a top speed of {{convert|17|kn}} from {{convert|1962|ihp|abbr=on}}. In 1894, {{lang|it|Goito}} had her center engine and screw removed and her original boilers replaced with oil-fired models. With these changes, her engines were capable of producing {{convert|17.2|kn}} from {{convert|2521|ihp|abbr=on}}. The ships had a cruising radius of {{convert|1100|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}. They were originally fitted with a fore-and-aft sailing rig to supplement the steam engines, though they were later removed.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

File:Italian cruiser Confienza.jpg

The primary armament for the {{lang|it|Goito}} class was five {{convert|14|in|abbr=on|0}} torpedo tubes, though {{lang|it|Montebello}} only had four tubes. The ships also carried a variety of light guns. {{lang|it|Goito}} was equipped with five QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss 40-caliber (cal.) guns, two {{convert|37|mm|abbr=on|1}} 20-cal. guns, and three 37 mm revolving Hotchkiss guns, all mounted singly. {{lang|it|Montebello}} had six 57 mm guns and two 37 mm guns, and {{lang|it|Monzambano}} carried only six 57 mm guns. {{lang|it|Confienza}} was the only vessel to carry a medium-caliber gun, a single {{convert|4.7|in|abbr=on}} 32-cal. gun mounted on her bow. She also carried six 57 mm guns and two 37 mm guns. The ships were protected with an armored deck that was {{convert|1.5|in|abbr=on}} thick.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

File:Italian cruiser Montebello.jpg

All four {{lang|it|Goito}}-class cruisers served with the main Italian fleet for the majority of their careers. This time was spent either laid up in the reserve component of the fleet, or activated for yearly training maneuvers. These frequently gamed a French attack on Italy, as in the case of the 1888 maneuvers—for which only {{lang|it|Goito}} had been completed in time to participate—that simulated a French attack on La Spezia,{{sfn|Brassey 1889|p=453}} or the 1893 maneuvers, which tested a French attack on Naples.{{sfn|Clarke & Thursfield|pp=202–203}} In 1898, {{lang|it|Monzambano}} and {{lang|it|Montebello}} participated in a rare deployment for members of the class when they were assigned to the Levant Squadron that was tasked with patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea.{{sfn|Garbett 1899|p=855}} Throughout this period, the ships of the class would either be distributed among the divisions of the fleet, as with the case of the annual training maneuvers, or stationed together while in reserve status; in 1895, for example, the four {{lang|it|Goito}}s were assigned to the 2nd Maritime Department, along with {{lang|it|Tripoli}} and the eight {{sclass|Partenope|cruiser|0}} torpedo cruisers.{{sfn|Garbett 1895|p=90}}

In 1897, {{lang|it|Goito}} was withdrawn from front-line service and converted in a minelayer, with a capacity for 60 naval mines in place of her torpedo tubes. {{lang|it|Montebello}} remained on active duty until 1898, when she was converted into a training ship for engine room personnel, and was re-boilered with coal- and oil-fired equipment from several manufacturers in 1903. {{lang|it|Confienza}} and {{lang|it|Monzambano}} were the last members of the class to leave active service, being stricken from the naval register on the same day, 26 August 1901 and sold for scrapping.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}} {{lang|it|Goito}} continued to take part in fleet maneuvers as late as 1907 in her minelayer configuration,{{sfn|Brassey 1908|p=77}} and both she and {{lang|it|Manzambano}} remained in the {{lang|it|Regia Marina}}{{'}}s inventory during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912{{sfn|Beehler|p=11}} and World War I. Neither ship saw action in either conflict, though {{lang|it|Goito}} laid defensive minefields in the Adriatic Sea after Italy entered World War I in 1915.{{sfn|O'Hara, Dickson, & Worth|p=201}} {{lang|it|Montebello}} was eventually stricken on 26 January 1920, and {{lang|it|Goito}} followed her to the breakers' yard on 15 March.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

{{Notelist

| notes =

}}

{{Reflist|20em}}

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}}

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• {{cite book

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}}

• [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/EFGHI/goito.aspx Classe Goito] Marina Militare website {{in lang|it}}

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Goito-class cruiser}}

{{Italian torpedo cruisers}}

{{WWI Italian ships}}