Italian cruiser Calatafimi

{{main|Partenope-class cruiser}}

File:Partenope-class cruiser plan and profile drawing.jpg

The {{lang|it|Partenope}}-class cruisers were derivatives of the earlier, experimental {{sclass|Goito|cruiser|1}}s, themselves based on the preceding cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Tripoli||2}}.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|pp=347–348}} The class marked a temporary shift toward the ideas of the {{lang|fr|Jeune École}} in Italian naval thinking. The doctrine emphasized the use of small, torpedo-armed craft to destroy expensive ironclads.{{sfn|Sondhaus|p=149}}

{{lang|it|Calatafimi}} was {{convert|73.1|m|ftin|sp=us}} long overall and had a beam of {{convert|8.22|m|0|abbr=on}} and an average draft of {{convert|3.48|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. She displaced {{convert|839|LT|lk=on}} normally. The ship had a short forecastle deck that terminated at the conning tower. She had a crew of between 96 and 121 personnel.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single screw propeller. Steam was supplied by four coal-fired locomotive boilers, which were vented through two widely spaced funnels. Specific figures for {{lang|it|Calatafimi}}{{'}}s engine performance have not survived, but the ships of her class had top speeds of {{convert|18.1|to|20.8|kn|lk=in}} at {{convert|3884|to|4422|ihp|lk=in}}. The ship had a cruising radius of about {{convert|1800|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

{{lang|it|Calatafimi}} was armed with a main battery of one QF 4.7-inch Gun Mk I–IV /40 gun placed on the forecastle. Close-range defense against torpedo boats was provided by a secondary battery of six QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt /43 guns mounted singly.{{efn|"/40" refers to the length of the gun in terms of calibers, meaning that the length of the barrel is 40 times its internal diameter.}} She was also equipped with three {{convert|37|mm|abbr=on|1}} /20 guns in single mounts. Her primary offensive weapon was her six {{convert|450|mm|abbr=on|1}} torpedo tubes. The ship was protected by an armored deck that was up to {{convert|1.6|in|abbr=on}} thick; her conning tower was armored with the same thickness of steel plate.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

The new cruiser was originally to have been named {{lang|it|Tersicore}}, but she was renamed {{lang|it|Calatafimi}} the day construction began. The last member of her class, {{lang|it|Calatafimi}} was laid down on 15 September 1891 at the {{lang|it|Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia}} (Royal Dockyard in Castellammare di Stabia), and was launched on 18 March 1893. After fitting-out work was completed, the ship was commissioned into the fleet on 16 January 1894.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}} The following year, she was assigned to the 2nd Division of the Permanent Squadron, which included her sister ship {{ship|Italian cruiser|Euridice||2}}, the ironclad battleship {{ship|Italian ironclad|Francesco Morosini||2}}, and the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Etruria||2}}. The Squadron was based at La Spezia at the time, though {{lang|it|Calatafimi}} was stationed primarily in Taranto and Naples, along with most of the other torpedo cruisers of the Italian fleet.{{sfn|Garbett 1895|pp=89–90}}

In 1895, unrest in the Ottoman Empire that killed hundreds of foreign nationals prompted several of the European great powers to send an international fleet to pressure the Ottomans into compensating the victims.{{cite news|title=Sultan Continues to Defy the Menaces of the Powers|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=27 November 1895|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1895/11/27/page/4/article/foreign-news|access-date=31 May 2016}} In November, a small Italian squadron sent to Smyrna to join the fleet in there; {{lang|it|Calatafimi}} was mobilized as part of a larger force in Naples that consisted of the ironclads {{lang|it|Francesco Morosini}}, {{ship|Italian ironclad|Lepanto||2}}, and {{ship|Italian ironclad|Ruggiero di Lauria||2}}, the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Elba||2}}, the torpedo cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Folgore||2}}, and five torpedo boats. This second squadron was stocked with coal and ammunition in the event that it would need to reinforce the squadron at Smryna.{{sfn|The Fleets in the Levant|p=16,664}}

In 1896, she took part in the annual summer maneuvers in July as part of the First Division of the Reserve Squadron, which also included the ironclads {{ship|Italian ironclad|Re Umberto||2}} and {{lang|it|Lepanto}} and the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Ettore Fieramosca||2}}.{{sfn|Barry|p=133}} She remained with the unit the following year, which also included the ironclads {{lang|it|Lepanto}}, {{ship|Italian ironclad|Italia||2}}, {{ship|Italian ironclad|Duilio||2}}, {{lang|it|Francesco Morosini}}, and {{lang|it|Ruggiero di Lauria}}, the protected cruisers {{ship|Italian cruiser|Lombardia||2}} and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Calabria||2}}, and a pair of torpedo boats.{{sfn|Garbett 1897|p=789}} In 1898, {{lang|it|Calatafimi}} was assigned to the Reserve Squadron, which included the ironclads {{lang|it|Lepanto}}, {{lang|it|Francesco Morosini}}, and {{lang|it|Ruggiero di Lauria}}, three protected cruisers, and the torpedo cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Goito||2}}.{{sfn|Garbett 1898|p=200}} The following year, she returned to the Active Squadron, where she served with six ironclads, the armored cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Vettor Pisani||2}}, the protected cruiser {{lang|it|Lombardia}}, and {{lang|it|Goito}}.{{sfn|Garbett 1899|p=792}} The ship was sold for scrap in March 1907 and subsequently broken up.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

{{notelist

| notes =

}}

{{reflist|20em}}

• {{cite journal

|last=Barry

|first=E. B.

|title=The Italian Manoevres

|pages=131–140

|journal=Notes on Naval Progress

|year=1897

|oclc=5140928

|ref={{sfnref|Barry}}

}}

• {{cite journal

|editor-last=Garbett

|editor-first=H.

|title=Naval and Military Notes – Italy

|journal=Journal of the Royal United Service Institution

|publisher=J. J. Keliher

|location=London

|year=1895

|volume=XXXIX

|pages=81–111

|oclc=8007941

|ref={{sfnref|Garbett 1895}}

}}

• {{cite journal

|editor-last=Garbett

|editor-first=H.

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRQmAQAAIAAJ

|title=Naval Notes—Italy

|journal=Journal of the Royal United Service Institution

|volume=XLI

|issue=232

|pages=788–790

|date=June 1897

|ref={{sfnref|Garbett 1897}}

|oclc=8007941

}}

• {{cite journal

|editor-last=Garbett

|editor-first=H.

|title=Naval Notes – Italy

|journal=Journal of the Royal United Service Institution

|publisher=J. J. Keliher

|location=London

|year=1899

|volume=XLIII

|pages=792–796

|oclc=8007941

|ref={{sfnref|Garbett 1899}}

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Fraccaroli

|first=Aldo

|editor-last=Gardiner

|editor-first=Robert

|chapter=Italy

|pages=334–359

|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905

|year=1979

|location=London

|publisher=Conway Maritime Press

|isbn=978-0-85177-133-5

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2

|ref={{sfnref|Fraccaroli}}

}}

• {{cite journal

|editor-last=Garbett

|editor-first=H.

|title=Naval Notes – Italy

|journal=Journal of the Royal United Service Institution

|publisher=J. J. Keliher

|location=London

|year=1898

|volume=XLII

|pages=199–204

|oclc=8007941

|ref={{sfnref|Garbett 1898}}

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Sondhaus

|first=Lawrence

|title=Naval Warfare, 1815–1914

|location=London and New York

|publisher=Routledge

|year=2001

|isbn=978-0-415-21478-0

|ref={{sfnref|Sondhaus}}

}}

• {{cite journal

|title=The Fleets in the Levant

|journal=Scientific American Supplement

|volume=XL

|number=1043

|location=New York

|pages=16,663–16,664

|oclc=809204954

|ref={{sfnref|The Fleets in the Levant}}

}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/ABCD/calatafimi1.aspx Calatafimi] Marina Militare website

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Partenope-class cruiser}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calatafimi}}

Category:Partenope-class cruisers

Category:Ships built in Castellammare di Stabia