Re Umberto-class ironclad

Starting in the 1870s, following the Italian fleet's defeat at the Battle of Lissa, the Italians began a large naval expansion program, aimed at countering the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The Re Umberto class was the culmination of the first phase of the program, which saw ten modern ironclad battleships built; these ships placed Italy with the third largest navy in the world, after Great Britain and France.Greene & Massignani, p. 394 The three Re Umbertos were designed by Benedetto Brin, then the president of the Committee for Naval Projects, and who had overseen most of the ironclad construction program. The first two ships were authorized in 1883, and in 1885 Brin, who was then the naval minister, proposed a third vessel.

File:Re Umberto class battleship diagrams Brasseys 1896.jpg

The three ships of the class differed slightly in their dimensions; Re Umberto and Sicilia were the same length and width but Sardegna was longer. The ships had an overall length of {{convert|127.6|to|130.73|m|ftin|sp=us}}; all three had a beam of {{convert|23.44|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. The three ships displaced between {{convert|13058|to|13673|LT|sp=us|lk=on}} normally and {{convert|14842|to|15454|LT|sp=us|abbr=on}} at full load, with Sicilia the lightest and Re Umberto the heaviest. The first two ships had a draft of {{convert|9.29|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, while Sardegna{{'}}s longer hull gave her a reduced draft, at {{convert|8.84|m|0|abbr=on}}. The ships were fitted with a single military mast with two fighting tops amidships. Sardegna was one of the first warships equipped with Marconi's new wireless telegraph. The ships' crews also varied in size, from 733 officers and men aboard Re Umberto, to 736 for Sicilia and 794 on Sardegna.Gardiner, p. 342

The propulsion system for Re Umberto and Sicilia consisted of a pair of horizontal compound steam engines each driving a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by eighteen coal-fired, cylindrical fire-tube boilers. These ships' engines were manufactured by Gio. Ansaldo & C., based on a design from Maudslay, Sons and Field.Neal, p. 109 Sardegna instead received a pair of triple-expansion steam engines, with the same number and type of boilers; she was the first Italian warship to be equipped with triple expansion engines. The ships' boilers were trunked into three funnels, with two side-by-side just aft of the conning tower, and the third further aft. Re Umberto{{'}}s engines produced a top speed of {{convert|18.5|kn|lk=in}} at {{convert|19500|ihp|lk=in}}, while Sicilia made {{convert|20.1|kn}} from {{convert|19131|ihp|abbr=on}} and Sardegna reached {{convert|20.3|kn}} from {{convert|22800|ihp|abbr=on}}. Specific figures for each ship's cruising radius have not survived, but the ships of her class could steam for {{convert|4000|to|6000|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}.

File:Re Umberto 13.5 inch gun barbette right elevation.jpg}}]]

The ships of the Re Umberto class were armed with a main battery of four BL 13.5 inch naval gun Mk I – IV 30-caliber guns, mounted in two twin-gun turrets, one on either end of the ship. This was more efficient than the arrangement used in previous designs, with both pairs of guns mounted in a central barbette that limited their arcs of fire.Gardiner, pp. 340–342 The guns were the Pattern B type manufactured by Armstrong Whitworth. These guns fired a {{convert|1250|lb|adj=on|order=flip}} capped armor-piercing shells with a {{convert|507|lb|abbr=on|order=flip}} brown powder charge, which produced a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1886|ft/s|order=flip}}. The guns could elevate to 15 degrees and depress to −5 degrees; elevation was controlled by hand, and loading required the guns to be elevated to 15 degrees.Friedman, pp. 232–233

They carried a secondary battery of eight QF 6 inch /40 naval gun 40-caliber guns placed singly in shielded mounts atop the upper deck, with four on each broadside. Close-range defense against torpedo boats was provided by a battery of sixteen QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I–IV guns in casemates in the upper deck aboard Re Umberto, eight on each broadside. Sicilia and Sardegna both had twenty of these guns, with ten per side. These were supported by sixteen QF 6-pounder Nordenfelt 43-caliber guns and ten {{convert|37|mm|abbr=on}} guns. As was customary for capital ships of the period, they carried five {{convert|17.7|in|abbr=on|0|order=flip}} torpedo tubes in above-water launchers. The torpedoes carried a {{convert|90|lb|abbr=on|order=flip}} warhead and had a range of {{convert|400|m|abbr=on}} at a speed of {{convert|30|kn}}.Friedman, p. 347

File:Sardegna in dry dock.png

The ships were lightly armored for their size; the savings in weight allowed for the high top speed, which was typical for Italian capital ships of the period. This was especially true of those designed by Brin, who argued that armor technology of the time could not defeat contemporary heavy guns.Gardiner, pp. 341–342 The ships' armor consisted of steel manufactured by Schneider-Creusot. They were protected by belt armor that was {{convert|4|in|abbr=on|0|order=flip}} thick, with an armored deck that was {{convert|3|in|abbr=on|0|order=flip}} thick. Their forward conning towers were armored with {{convert|11.8|in|abbr=on|0|order=flip}} of steel plate on the sides. Their main battery turrets had 4 in thick faces and the supporting barbettes had {{convert|13.75|in|abbr=on|0|order=flip}} thick steel. The secondary guns had {{convert|2|in|abbr=on|0|order=flip}} thick gun shields.

File:Italian battleship Sardegna starboard view.jpg

For their first decade in service, all three ships saw duty in the Active Squadron of the Italian fleet, though their early careers were uneventful. Re Umberto and Sardegna made visits to Britain and Germany in 1895, the latter for the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal.Neal, p. 155Sondhaus, p. 131 The ships were involved in an international naval demonstration off Crete in 1897 before the Greco-Turkish War.Robinson, p. 187 In 1905, all three ships were transferred to the Reserve Squadron,Brassey, p. 45 having been supplanted by the more modern pre-dreadnought battleships of the {{sclass|Ammiraglio di Saint Bon|battleship|5}} and {{sclass|Regina Margherita|battleship|4}}es.Gardiner, p. 343

The three ships saw significant action during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, primarily conducting operations in support of Italian troops fighting in Libya. From October to December 1911, the ships were stationed off Tripoli, where they bombarded Ottoman defenses to prepare for the initial landing and then provided fire support to Italian forces after they had seized the city. After returning to Italy for resupply,Beehler, pp. 19–20, 47–48 the ships were tasked with escorting troop convoys to attack other ports in Libya from June to August 1912.Beehler, pp. 81, 90–91

After the war, Sicilia became a depot ship for the new dreadnought {{ship|Italian battleship|Giulio Cesare||2}} in Taranto, and Re Umberto became a depot ship in Genoa. After Italy entered World War I in 1915, Sardegna was stationed in Venice as the flagship of the naval forces defending the port and Re Umberto returned to service as a floating battery in Brindisi. After the catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Caporetto in November 1917, Sardegna was withdrawn from Venice to Brindisi,Gardiner & Gray, p. 256Sondhaus, pp. 312–313 and later to Taranto. In 1918, Re Umberto was converted into an assault ship for the planned attack on the main Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola, but the war ended before the attack could be carried out. She was stricken in 1920 and broken up for scrap; Sicilia and Sardegna followed in 1923.

{{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}}
• {{cite journal|editor-last=Brassey|editor-first=Thomas A|year=1905|journal=The Naval Annual|title=Comparative Strength|location=Portsmouth|publisher=J. Griffin & Co.|pages=40–57|oclc=937691500}}
• {{cite book|last = Friedman|first = Norman|year = 2011|title = Naval Weapons of World War One|publisher = Naval Institute Press|location = Annapolis|isbn = 978-1-84832-100-7}}
• {{Cite book |editor-last=Gardiner|editor-first=Robert|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|year=1979|location=Annapolis|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|isbn=978-0-85177-133-5| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
• {{cite book|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-0-87021-907-8 |name-list-style=amp | url-access = registration

| url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_z3o0 }}

• {{Cite book |last1=Greene|first1=Jack|last2=Massignani|first2=Alessandro|title=Ironclads at War: The Origin and Development of the Armored Warship, 1854–1891|year=1998|location=Pennsylvania|publisher=Da Capo Press |name-list-style=amp|isbn=978-0-938289-58-6}}
• {{cite journal|editor-last=Neal|editor-first=William George|title=The Engines of the Italian Armour-Clad Sicilia|journal=The Marine Engineer|volume=XI|year=1890|location=London|publisher=Office for Advertisements and Publication|page=109}}
• Robinson, Charles N., ed. (1897). The Navy and Army Illustrated (London: Hudson & Kearns) III (32).
• {{Cite book| last=Sondhaus| first=Lawrence| title=The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918| year=1994| location=West Lafayette| publisher=Purdue University Press| isbn=978-1-55753-034-9}}

• {{cite book|last=Fraccaroli|first=Aldo |title=Italian Warships of World War I|location=London|publisher=Ian Allan|year=1970|isbn=978-0-7110-0105-3}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/PQRS/re_umberto.aspx Re Umberto (1888)] Marina Militare website

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