Italian cruiser Urania

{{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|Urania}} 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|931|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|Urania}}{{'}}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|Urania}} 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}}

{{lang|it|Urania}} was laid down on 16 February 1889 at the {{lang|it|Cantieri navali Odero}} (Odero Shipyard) in Genoa, and was launched on 18 June 1891. After fitting-out work was completed, the ship was commissioned into the fleet on 21 July 1893.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}} During the 1893 fleet maneuvers, {{lang|it|Urania}} served with the 2nd Division of the Reserve Squadron, along with the ironclad {{ship|Italian ironclad|Castelfidardo||2}}, the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Stromboli||2}}, and four torpedo boats. During the maneuvers, which lasted from 6 August to 5 September, the ships of the Reserve Squadron defended against a simulated attack by the Active Squadron, which gamed a French attack on the Italian fleet.{{sfn|Clarke & Thursfield|pp=202–203}} In 1895, {{lang|it|Urania}} 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|Partenope||2}}, {{ship|Italian cruiser|Aretusa||2}}, {{ship|Italian cruiser|Euridice||2}}, {{ship|Italian cruiser|Iride||2}}, {{ship|Italian cruiser|Minerva||2}}, and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Caprera||2}}, the four {{sclass|Goito|cruiser|1}}s, and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Tripoli||2}}.{{sfn|Garbett 1895|p=90}}

The ship was assigned to the 2nd Division of the main fleet in 1897, initially along with the three {{sclass|Ruggiero di Lauria|ironclad}}s and the protected cruisers {{ship|Italian cruiser|Etna||2}} and {{lang|it|Stromboli}}.{{sfn|Robinson|p=187}} By the June, the unit had been reorganized significantly, consisting of {{lang|it|Urania}}, the ironclad {{ship|Italian ironclad|Andrea Doria||2}}, the armored cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Marco Polo||2}}, the protected cruisers {{ship|Italian cruiser|Etna||2}}, {{ship|Italian cruiser|Stromboli||2}}, and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Liguria||2}}, and the torpedo cruisers {{ship|Italian cruiser|Caprera||2}} and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Partenope||2}}.{{sfn|Garbett 1897|p=789}} In 1899, {{lang|it|Urania}} was assigned to the 2nd Division of the main fleet, which consisted of the ironclads {{ship|Italian ironclad|Affondatore||2}}, {{lang|it|Castelfidardo}}, and {{ship|Italian ironclad|Sicilia||2}} and her sister ship {{lang|it|Partenope}}. The 2nd Division was usually kept in reserve, which amounted to three months of active service per year, with the rest of the time spent in harbor with reduced crews.{{sfn|Brassey|p=72}} At the start of the Italo-Turkish War in September 1911, {{lang|it|Urania}} was stationed in Italy, alternating between the ports of La Spezia and Naples, along with her sister ships {{lang|it|Iride}} and {{lang|it|Caprera}}. She did not see action during the war.{{sfn|Beehler|p=9}} In January 1912, with the war still on-going, the ship was sold for scrap and thereafter broken up.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=347}}

{{notelist

| notes =

}}

{{reflist|20em}}

• {{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=

|pages=

|year=1889

|location=Portsmouth

|publisher=J. Griffin & Co.

|oclc=5973345

|ref={{sfnref|Brassey}}

}}

• {{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

|name-list-style=amp

|ref={{sfnref|Clarke & Thursfield}}

}}

• {{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 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 book

|editor-last=Robinson

|editor-first=Charles N.

|year=1897

|title=The Navy and Army Illustrated

|location= London

|publisher=Hudson & Kearns

|volume=III

|number=32

|oclc=7489254

|ref={{sfnref|Robinson}}

}}

• {{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}}

}}

• [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/TUVZ/urania_incrociatore.aspx Urania] Marina Militare website

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Partenope-class cruiser}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urania}}

Category:1891 ships

Category:Partenope-class cruisers

Category:Ships built in Genoa