Italian cruiser Goito
{{Short description|Torpedo cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=November 2022}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption= |italic title=}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Italian cruiser Goito.jpg |Ship caption={{lang|it|Goito}} early in her career }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Kingdom of Italy |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Italy|naval}} |Ship name={{lang|it|Goito}} |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder={{lang|it|Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia}} |Ship laid down=September 1885 |Ship launched=6 July 1887 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=16 February 1888 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck=15 March 1920 |Ship fate=Scrapped, 1920 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Goito|cruiser|0}} torpedo cruiser |Ship displacement={{convert|829|LT|lk=on}} |Ship length={{convert|73.4|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|7.88|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft={{convert|3.6|m|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=
|Ship power=
|Ship speed={{convert|18|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|1100|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn|abbr=on}} |Ship complement=105–121 |Ship armament=
|Ship armor=Deck: {{convert|1.5|in|abbr=on}} }} |
{{lang|it|Goito}} was a torpedo cruiser built for the Italian {{lang|it|Regia Marina}} (Royal Navy) in the 1880s. She was the lead ship of the {{sclass|Goito|cruiser|4}}, which included three other vessels. {{lang|it|Goito}} was built by the {{lang|it|Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia}} shipyard between September 1885 and February 1888. She was armed with a variety of light guns and five {{convert|14|in|adj=on|0}} torpedo tubes, and was capable of a top speed of {{convert|18|kn|lk=in}}. The ship served the duration of her career in the main Italian fleet. Her early service was primarily occupied with training exercises; front-line duties ended in 1897 when she was converted into a minelayer, though she continued to participate in fleet exercises. During World War I, {{lang|it|Goito}} laid defensive minefields in the Adriatic Sea. She was eventually sold for scrap in 1920 and broken up.
Design
{{main|Goito-class cruiser}}
{{lang|it|Goito}} was {{convert|73.4|m|sp=us}} long overall and had a beam of {{convert|7.88|m|abbr=on}} and an average draft of {{convert|3.6|m|abbr=on}}. She displaced {{convert|829|LT|lk=on}} normally. Her propulsion system consisted of three double-expansion steam engines each driving a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by six coal-fired locomotive boilers. Exact figures for the ship's performance have not survived, but the members of the {{lang|it|Goito}} class could steam at a speed of about {{convert|18|kn|lk=in}} from {{convert|2500|to|3180|ihp|lk=in}}. {{lang|it|Goito}} had a cruising radius of {{convert|1100|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}. She had a crew of between 105 and 121.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}
The primary armament for {{lang|it|Goito}} was five {{convert|14|in|abbr=on|0}} torpedo tubes. She carried a light gun battery for defense against torpedo boats. This consisted of five QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss 40-caliber guns, two {{convert|37|mm|abbr=on|1}} 20-cal. guns, and three 37 mm revolving Hotchkiss guns, all mounted singly. The ship was protected with an armored deck that was {{convert|1.5|in|abbr=on}} thick.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}
Service history
{{lang|it|Goito}} was built by the {{lang|it|Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia}} shipyard; her keel was laid down in September 1885 and her completed hull was launched on 6 July 1887. She was completed on 16 February 1888 and commissioned into the fleet, the first member of her class to enter service.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}} That year, she took part in the annual fleet maneuvers, along with five ironclads, a protected cruiser, the torpedo cruisers {{ship|Italian cruiser|Tripoli||2}}, {{ship|Italian cruiser|Saetta||2}}, and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Folgore||2}}, and numerous smaller vessels. The maneuvers consisted of close-order drills and a simulated attack on and defense of La Spezia. Later that year, the ship was present during a naval review held for the German Kaiser Wilhelm II during a visit to Italy.{{sfn|Brassey 1889|p=453}}
File:Italian cruiser Goito2.jpg
The ship served in the 3rd Division of the Active Squadron during the 1893 fleet maneuvers, along with the ironclads {{ship|Italian ironclad|Affondatore||2}} and {{ship|Italian ironclad|Enrico Dandolo||2}} and four torpedo boats. During the maneuvers, which lasted from 6 August to 5 September, the ships of the Active Squadron simulated a French attack on the Italian fleet.{{sfn|Clarke & Thursfield|pp=202–203}} The following year, the ship took part in the annual fleet maneuvers in the 1st Division of the Active Squadron, along with the ironclad battleship {{ship|Italian ironclad|Re Umberto||2}} and the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Stromboli||2}}.{{sfn|Garbett 1894|p=564}} That year, {{lang|it|Goito}} had her coal-fired boilers replaced with oil-fired models, and her center engine and propeller shaft were removed. Her engines now produced {{convert|2521|ihp|abbr=on}} for a top speed of {{convert|17.2|kn}}.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}
In 1895, {{lang|it|Goito}} was stationed in the 2nd Maritime Department, split between Taranto and Naples, along with most of the torpedo cruisers in the Italian fleet. These included her sister ships {{ship|Italian cruiser|Monzambano||2}}, {{ship|Italian cruiser|Montebello||2}}, and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Confienza||2}}, the eight {{sclass|Partenope|cruiser|1}}s, and {{lang|it|Tripoli}}.{{sfn|Garbett 1895|p=90}} {{lang|it|Goito}} was converted into a minelayer in 1897. Her torpedo tubes were removed and equipment to handle sixty naval mines was installed.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}} In 1898, {{lang|it|Goito}} was assigned to the Reserve Squadron, which included the ironclads {{ship|Italian ironclad|Lepanto||2}}, {{ship|Italian ironclad|Francesco Morosini||2}}, and {{ship|Italian ironclad|Ruggiero di Lauria||2}}, and three protected cruisers.{{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 {{ship|Italian cruiser|Lombardia||2}}, and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Calatafimi||2}}.{{sfn|Garbett 1899|p=792}} During the 1907 fleet maneuvers, {{lang|it|Goito}} was attached to the main fleet to lay mines at a simulated advance base that would be created during the exercises.{{sfn|Brassey 1908|p=77}}
At the outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War in September 1911, {{lang|it|Goito}} was stationed in Venice along with {{lang|it|Tripoli}} and {{lang|it|Montebello}}. None of the vessels saw action during the war.{{sfn|Beehler|p=11}} Italy had declared neutrality at the start of World War I, but by July 1915, the Triple Entente had convinced the Italians to enter the war against the Central Powers.{{sfn|Halpern|p=140}} Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, the Italian naval chief of staff, believed that the threat from Austro-Hungarian submarines and naval mines in the narrow waters of the Adriatic 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|pp=141–142, 150}} {{lang|it|Goito}} was initially used to lay a series of defensive minefields, along with the torpedo cruisers {{ship|Italian cruiser|Partenope||2}} and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Minerva||2}}, in support of this strategy.{{sfn|O'Hara, Dickson, & Worth|p=201}} The ship remained in service until early 1920; she was stricken from the naval register on 15 March 1920 and subsequently broken up for scrap.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}
Notes
{{reflist|20em}}
References
- {{cite book
|last=Beehler
|first=William Henry
|title=The History of the Italian-Turkish War: September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912
|year=1913
|location=Annapolis
|publisher=United States Naval Institute
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OWcoAAAAYAAJ
|oclc=1408563
|ref={{sfnref|Beehler}}
}}
- {{cite journal
|editor-last=Brassey
|editor-first=Thomas A.
|journal=The Naval Annual
|title=Foreign Naval Manoevres
|pages=450–455
|year=1889
|location=Portsmouth
|publisher=J. Griffin & Co.
|oclc=5973345
|ref={{sfnref|Brassey 1889}}
}}
- {{cite journal
|editor-last=Brassey
|editor-first=Thomas A.
|journal=The Naval Annual
|title=Italian Manoevres
|pages=76–81
|year=1908
|location=Portsmouth
|publisher=J. Griffin & Co.
|ref={{sfnref|Brassey 1908}}
|oclc=5973345
}}
- {{cite book
|last1=Clarke
|first1=George S.
|last2=Thursfield
|first2=James R.
|title=The Navy and the Nation, or Naval Warfare and Imperial Defence
|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030750636
|year=1897
|location=London
|publisher=John Murray
|oclc=3462308
|ref={{sfnref|Clarke & Thursfield}}
|name-list-style=amp
}}
- {{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
|title=Naval and Military Notes – Italy
|journal=Journal of the Royal United Service Institution
|publisher=J. J. Keliher
|location=London
|year=1894
|volume=XXXVIII
|pages=564–565
|oclc=8007941
|ref={{sfnref|Garbett 1894}}
}}
- {{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.
|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 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=Halpern
|first=Paul G.
|title=A Naval History of World War I
|year=1995
|location=Annapolis
|publisher=Naval Institute Press
|isbn=978-1-55750-352-7
|ref={{sfnref|Halpern}}
}}
- {{Cite book
|last1=O'Hara
|first1=Vincent
|last2=Dickson
|first2=David
|last3=Worth
|first3=Richard
|title=To Crown the Waves: The Great Navies of the First World War
|publisher=Naval Institute Press
|location=Annapolis
|date=2013
|isbn=978-1-61251-082-8
|name-list-style=amp
|ref={{sfnref|O'Hara, Dickson, & Worth}}
}}
External links
- [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}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goito}}