Nino Bixio-class cruiser

In the early 1900s, the major naval powers were grappling with shifting technological, tactical, and strategic developments. For the later decades of the 19th century, the Italian fleet was oriented against the French Navy. But by the early 1900s, Italian navy officers returned to viewing their traditional rival across the Adriatic Sea, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, as the primary threat. At the same time, the development of more effective fire-control systems allowed ships to fight at longer ranges, and tactical developments identified during the recent Russo-Japanese War (specifically the concept of crossing the T) led to the need for high-speed fleet scouts so that commanders could maneuver their fleet more effectively. The Austro-Hungarians developed the light cruiser {{SMS|Admiral Spaun||2}} to fill this need, which prompted the Italian response with the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Quarto||2}}. Before work on {{lang|it|Quarto}} was completed, the Italian Minister of the Navy, Admiral Carlo Mirabello, ordered two more ships, which became the {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}} class, to supplement {{lang|it|Quarto}}.{{sfn|Cernuschi|pp=148–49}} These ships were designed by Engineering Captain Giuseppe Rota, along similar lines to the cruiser {{lang|it|Quarto}}.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}}

File:Marsala plan and profile.jpg

The ships were {{convert|131.4|m|sp=us|ftin}} long at the waterline and {{convert|140.3|m|abbr=on|ftin}} long overall. They had a beam of {{convert|13|m|abbr=on|ftin}} and a draft of {{convert|4.1|m|abbr=on|ftin}}. The ships displaced {{convert|3575|LT|sp=us}} normally and up to {{convert|4141|LT|sp=us|abbr=on}} at full load. Their hulls had an unusual convex shape to the bow. They had a short forecastle deck that extended for the first third of the length of the hull. The ships were fitted with a pair of pole masts equipped with spotting tops located at the forward and aft conning tower. Their crew consisted 13 officers and 283 enlisted men. The {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}}-class ships were only lightly armored, with a curved armor deck that was {{cvt|38|mm}} thick and sloped downward at the sides, where it connected to the sides of the hull. They had {{convert|100|mm|abbr=on}} thick plating on their forward conning tower, and their guns were fitted with thin gun shields.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}}{{sfn|James|pp=395–396}}

The ships' propulsion system consisted of three Curtiss steam turbines, each driving a screw propeller. Steam was provided by fourteen mixed coal and oil firing Blechynden boilers that were trunked into four funnels; the first two were closely spaced just aft of the foremast and the other two were farther spaced further aft. The engines were rated for {{convert|22500|shp|lk=in}} which should have given the ships a top speed of {{convert|29|kn|lk=in}}, but neither ship reached that speed in service owing to their being overweight. {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}}{{'}}s engines reached {{convert|23000|shp|abbr=on}} for a top speed of {{convert|26.82|kn|abbr=on}}, while {{lang|it|Marsala}} was slightly faster at {{convert|27.66|kn|abbr=on}} at the same horsepower.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}}{{sfn|Alger|p=645}}

Both ships were a disappointment, especially compared to the older but faster {{lang|it|Quarto}}. The Curtiss turbines, built in Italy under license, proved to be unreliable in service, and they could not propel the ships at their intended speed. Repeated efforts to correct the defects and modify the boilers failed to produce the desired results.{{sfn|Cernuschi|p=149}} The {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}}-class ships had a cruising range of {{convert|1400|nmi|lk=in}} at an economical speed of {{convert|13|kn|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}}{{sfn|Alger|p=645}}

The ships were armed with a main battery of six {{convert|120|mm|abbr=on}} L/50 guns mounted singly.L/50 refers to the length of the gun in terms of caliber. Two were placed side by side forward, two were placed en echelon amidships, and the last two were mounted in a superfiring pair aft of the mainmast. The amidships guns were placed en echelon, and were spaced with the funnels so as to allow them to fire across the deck.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}} The guns were the Pattern EE type, the same type employed as secondary guns on the dreadnought battleships of the {{ship|Italian battleship|Dante Alighieri||2}} and {{sclass|Conte di Cavour|battleship|4}}es, and were manufactured by Armstrong Whitworth.{{sfn|Friedman|p=96}} They were {{convert|3.35|MT|sp=us|adj=on}} guns that fired a {{convert|22.5|kg|sp=us|adj=on}} projectile at a muzzle velocity of {{convert|860|m/s|sp=us}}, at a rate of 6 shots per minute.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=254}}

The ships were also equipped with a secondary battery of six {{cvt|76|mm|0}} L/50 guns,{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}} the same Pattern ZZI type guns used on the Italian dreadnoughts,{{sfn|Friedman|p=108}} which provided close range defense against torpedo boats. These guns weighed {{convert|1.14|MT|abbr=on|sp=us}} and fired {{convert|5.6|kg|abbr=on}} and {{convert|7|kg|abbr=on}} shells at {{convert|815|m/s|abbr=on}}. They had a rate of fire of 15 shells per minute.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=254}} Four of the guns were placed on the forecastle, astern of the main battery guns; two were abreast the conning tower, while the other pair were en echelon with the first set of funnels. The remaining two guns were placed further aft, abreast the superfiring main battery gun.{{sfn|James|p=395}} They were also armed with two {{cvt|450|mm|1}} torpedo tubes submerged in the hull; they were located amidships, one tube per broadside. The ships were also fitted with equipment to store and launch 200 naval mines.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}}{{sfn|James|p=396}}

File:Italian cruiser Nino Bixio at Split NH 43256-1.jpg in 1919]]

{{lang|it|Nino Bixio}} had entered service just before the start of World War I in July 1914, but Italy had initially declared neutrality at the start of the conflict, despite having been allied to Germany and Austria-Hungary. By May 1915, the Triple Entente had convinced the Italian government to enter the war against their erstwhile allies. The main Italian fleet was kept at the southern end of the Adriatic, at Brindisi, and in the Mediterranean, at Taranto, where it would be safe from Austro-Hungarian U-boats. The Austro-Hungarians, meanwhile, employed a fleet in being strategy while conducting raids with small craft and U-boats.{{sfn|Halpern 1995|pp=140–142}} For the duration of the war, {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}} and {{lang|it|Marsala}} were stationed at Brindisi, where they could quickly respond to Austro-Hungarian raids.{{sfn|O'Hara, Dickson, & Worth|pp=183–184}} In December 1915, {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}} and several other warships, including British cruisers, sortied in response to an Austro-Hungarian attack on transports supplying the Serbian Army through Albania. {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}} pursued the cruiser {{SMS|Helgoland|1912|6}} before the latter escaped under cover of darkness.{{sfn|Halpern 1995|pp=156–157}}

{{lang|it|Marsala}} saw action during the Battle of the Otranto Straits in May 1917, though {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}} did not have steam up in her boilers when the Austro-Hungarians attacked, so she was unable to join her sister ship.{{sfn|Halpern 2004|p=50}} {{lang|it|Marsala}} briefly clashed with the Austro-Hungarian cruisers before Rear Admiral Alfredo Acton, the Italian commander, broke off the engagement following the arrival of the powerful Austro-Hungarian armored cruiser {{SMS|Sankt Georg}}.{{sfn|Halpern 1995|p=165}} The demobilizations and funding cuts that followed the end of the war in 1918 continued into the 1920s for the {{lang|it|Regia Marina}}, and disposing of the two {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}} class ships, which had never met design expectations, was an easy means to trim the naval budget.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=254}}{{sfn|Goldstein & Maurer|p=225}} {{lang|it|Nino Bixio}} and {{lang|it|Marsala}} were stricken from the naval register in March 1929 and November 1927, respectively, and were subsequently sold for scrap.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=263}}

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{{Commons category}}

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

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Nino Bixio-class cruiser}}

{{Italian protected cruisers}}

{{WWI Italian ships}}