Italian cruiser Vesuvio

{{main|Etna-class cruiser}}

The four ships of the {{lang|it|Etna}} class were designed in Italy as domestically produced versions of the British-built cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Giovanni Bausan||2}}. The Italian government secured a manufacturing license from the British firm Armstrong Whitworth, but the design was revised by the Italian naval engineer Carlo Vigna. These cruisers were intended to serve as "battleship destroyers",{{sfn|Brook|pp=97, 99}}{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=348}} and represented a temporary embrace of the {{lang|fr|Jeune École}} doctrine by the Italian naval command.{{sfn|Sondhaus|p=149}}

{{lang|it|Vesuvio}} was {{convert|283|ft|6|in|m|1}} between perpendiculars, with a beam of {{convert|42|ft|6|in|0}}. She had a mean draft of {{convert|19|ft|m|1}} and displaced {{convert|3373|LT|t}}. Her crew numbered 12 officers and 296 men. The ship had two horizontal compound steam engines, each driving a single propeller, with steam provided by four double-ended cylindrical boilers. {{lang|it|Vesuvio}} was credited with a top speed of {{convert|17|kn|lk=in}} from {{convert|6820|ihp|lk=in}}. She had a cruising radius of {{convert|5000|nmi}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}.{{sfn|Brook|p=97}}

The main armament of the ships consisted of two Armstrong {{cvt|254|mm|0}}, 30-caliber breech-loading guns mounted in barbettes fore and aft. She was also equipped with a secondary battery of six Cannon 152/32 Model 1887, 32-caliber, breech-loading guns that were carried in sponsons along the sides of the ship. For anti-torpedo boat defense, {{lang|it|Vesuvio}} was fitted with five QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss and five Hotchkiss gun. The ship was also armed with four {{cvt|356|mm|0}} torpedo tubes. One was mounted in the bow underwater and the other three were above water.{{sfn|Brook|p=97}} She was protected with an armor deck below the waterline with a maximum thickness of {{cvt|1.5|in|order=flip}}. The conning tower had {{cvt|0.5|in|order=flip}} worth of armor plating.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=348}}

{{lang|it|Vesuvio}} was built by the {{lang|it|Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando}} shipyard in Livorno, with her keel being laid down on 10 July 1883. Her completed hull was launched on 21 March 1886, and after fitting-out work was finished, she was commissioned into the Italian fleet on 16 March 1888.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=348}} She was present during a naval review held for the German Kaiser Wilhelm II during a visit to Italy later that year.{{sfn|Brassey 1889|p=453}} {{lang|it|Vesuvio}} and her sisters {{ship|Italian cruiser|Stromboli||2}} and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Ettore Fieramosca||2}} participated in the 1893 naval maneuvers as part of the Squadron of Maneuvers, which was tasked with defending against the Permanent Squadron.{{sfn|Lansdale|p=355}} {{lang|it|Vesuvio}} was placed in reserve for 1896, though she was reactivated to take part on the naval maneuvers at the end of the year.{{sfn|Robinson|p=187}} During these maneuvers, she was assigned to a force tasked with defending against a simulated French fleet.{{sfn|Clarke & Thursfield|p=202}}

In February 1897, {{lang|it|Vesuvio}} deployed to Crete to serve in the International Squadron, a multinational force made up of ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, French Navy, Imperial German Navy, {{lang|it|Regia Marina}}, Imperial Russian Navy, and British Royal Navy that intervened in the 1897–1898 Greek uprising on Crete against rule by the Ottoman Empire. She arrived as part of an Italian division that also included the ironclad battleships {{ship|Italian ironclad|Sicilia||2}} (flagship of the division's commander, Vice Admiral Felice Napoleone Canevaro) and {{ship|Italian ironclad|Re Umberto||2}} and the torpedo cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Euridice||2}}.{{sfn|Robinson|p=187}} By June, she had been assigned to the 1st Division of the active fleet in 1897, which also included the battleships {{lang|it|Re Umberto}}, {{ship|Italian ironclad|Sardegna||2}}, and {{lang|it|Sicilia}}, the protected cruiser {{lang|it|Giovanni Bausan}}, and the torpedo cruisers {{lang|it|Euridice}} and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Montebello||2}}.{{sfn|Garbett 1897|p=789}}

In 1900, {{lang|it|Vesuvio}} and {{lang|it|Ettore Fieramosca}} were sent to Chinese waters to assist in the suppression of the Boxer Uprising as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance.{{sfn|Brook|p=97}} Both ships were formally assigned to the Cruising Squadron in Chinese waters in 1901.{{sfn|Garbett 1901|p=1136}} During 1901, she made stops in Shanghai, Wusong, and Hong Kong.{{sfn|Akers|pp=77, 81, 114}} After a second deployment to the Far East from 1906 to 1909, {{lang|it|Vesuvio}} was placed in reserve, struck from the Navy List on 11 May 1911 and sold for scrap in 1915.{{sfn|Brook|p=99}}{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=348}}

{{reflist|20em}}

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|first=T. H.

|title=The Log of the Commission of H.M.S. Astraea On the Mediterranean and China Stations

|year=1902

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}}

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}}

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• {{cite book

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|title=The Navy and the Nation, or Naval Warfare and Imperial Defence

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|year=1897

|publisher=John Murray

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| url-access = registration

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• {{cite journal

|editor-last=Garbett

|editor-first=H.

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|title=Naval Notes—Italy

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|volume=XLI

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|date=June 1897

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|oclc=8007941

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• {{cite journal

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|publisher=J. J. Keliher

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|page=1136

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}}

• {{cite book

|last=Lansdale

|first=P. V., Lieut.

|title=Notes on the Year's Naval Progress

|edition=July 1894

|series=Information From Abroad: General Information Series

|volume=XIII

|year=1894

|publisher=Government Printing Office

|location=Washington, D. C.

|pages=354–73

|oclc=145338985

|ref={{sfnref|Lansdale}}

}}

• {{cite journal

|editor-last=Robinson

|editor-first=Charles N.

|title=The Fleets of the Powers in the Mediterranean

|journal=The Navy and Army Illustrated

|year=1897

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|volume=III

|location=London

|publisher=Hudson & Kearnes

|ref={{sfnref|Robinson}}

|oclc=7489254

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Sondhaus

| first = Lawrence

| year = 2001

| title = Naval Warfare, 1815–1914

| publisher = Routledge

| location = London

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

| ref = {{sfnRef|Sondhaus}}

}}

{{Commons category}}

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

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Etna class protected cruiser}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesuvio}}

Category:1886 ships

Category:Cruisers of Italy

Category:World War I cruisers of Italy

Category:Etna-class protected cruisers

Category:Ships built in Livorno