Re d'Italia-class ironclad

Following the unification of Italy in 1861, the new Regia Marina (Royal Navy) began a construction program to prepare a fleet of ironclad warships capable of defeating the Austrian Navy, which initiated the Austro-Italian ironclad arms race. Italy considered the Austrian Empire to be its main rival, since it controlled predominantly Italian areas, including Venice. The nascent Italian shipyards were incapable of building the number of ships the new fleet would require, so most of this first generation of ironclads were built by foreign ship builders. In 1861, the two ships of the Re d'Italia class were ordered from the American shipyard owned by William H. Webb, under the direction of General Luigi Federico Menabrea, then the Italian Navy Minister.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=335}} The design for the ships was based heavily on the contemporary French ironclad {{ship|French ironclad|Gloire||2}}, but they did not meet the high expectations the Italian fleet placed upon them.{{sfn|Ordovini, Petronio, & Sullivan|p=338}}

The ships of the Re d'Italia class were {{convert|83.82|m|sp=us|0}} long between perpendiculars and {{convert|99.61|m|abbr=on|ftin}} long overall and they had a beam of {{convert|16.76|m|abbr=on|0}}. Both ships displaced {{convert|5610|LT|sp=us|lk=on}} normally; Re d'Italia displaced up to {{convert|5869|LT|sp=us|abbr=on}} at full load while Re di Portogallo was heavier, at {{convert|6082|LT|sp=us|abbr=on}}. Their draft at full load was {{convert|6.17|m|abbr=on|ftin}} for Re d'Italia and {{convert|7.18|m|abbr=on|ftin}} for Re di Portogallo. The ships' hulls were built from unseasoned green wood, and were not subdivided with watertight compartments. Re d'Italia had a crew of 565, while Re di Portogallo{{'}}s crew numbered 552.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=338}}{{sfn|Silverstone|p=282}}

The ships' propulsion system consisted of one single-expansion marine steam engine that drove a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by four coal-fired, rectangular fire-tube boilers. The boilers were trunked into a single funnel. Their engines produced a top speed of {{convert|10.6|to|10.8|kn|lk=in}} from {{convert|1812|to|1845|ihp|lk=in}}. They could steam for about {{convert|1800|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10.5|kn}}. Steering was controlled through a single rudder, though the ships did not maneuver well. For long-distance travel, the ships were fitted with three masts and were barque-rigged, with a total sail area of {{convert|21317|sqft}}.{{sfn|Ordovini, Petronio, & Sullivan|p=338}}{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=338}}{{sfn|Silverstone|p=282}}

The Re d'Italia-class ships were broadside ironclads. Re d'Italia was armed with a main battery of six 72-pounder {{convert|203|mm|abbr=on|0}} guns and thirty-two {{convert|164|mm|abbr=on}} rifled muzzle-loading guns, while Re di Portogallo had an armament of two {{convert|10|in|abbr=on|0|order=flip}} guns and twenty-six 164 mm guns. The ships were equipped with a spur-shaped ram at the bow. In 1870, Re di Portogallo was rearmed with six 203 mm and twelve 164 mm guns in place of her original twenty-six 164 mm guns; she retained the two 10 in guns. The following year, her armament was revised more radically for service as a gunnery training ship, and then consisted of twenty 203 mm guns, two {{convert|120|mm|abbr=on}} guns, and eight {{convert|80|mm|abbr=on}} guns. The ships' hulls were sheathed with wrought iron armor above the waterline that was 120 mm thick. Their rudder and propeller, however, were not protected by their armor.{{sfn|Ordovini, Petronio, & Sullivan|p=338}}{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=338}}

File:Sinking of the italian ironclad Re d'Italia.jpg

The only Italian ironclads to be built in the United States, the two Re d'Italia-class ships formed the core of the Italian armored fleet at the start of the Third Italian War of Independence fought against the Austrian Empire in mid-1866. Re d'Italia and Re di Portogallo served as the flagships of the Second and Third Divisions, with the former also acting as the fleet flagship under Admiral Carlo Pellion di Persano.{{sfn|Wilson|p=219}} The war broke out in June 1866, as Italy, which had allied with Prussia, sought to take advantage of the Austro-Prussian War to seize Austrian-controlled Venice.{{sfn|Sondhaus|p=1}}

After initially remaining in port, the Italian fleet launched an attack on the island of Lissa in mid-July; the Austrian fleet under Rear Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff sortied to mount a counterattack, which resulted in the Battle of Lissa on 20 July. Shortly before the two fleets clashed, Persano transferred to the new turret ship {{ship|Italian ironclad|Affondatore||2}} without informing the fleet, leaving the Italian vessels without effective leadership. In the ensuing melee, Re d'Italia was rammed and sunk by the Austrian flagship, the ironclad {{SMS|Erzherzog Ferdinand Max|1865|6}}, with heavy loss of life.{{sfn|Wilson|pp=220–242}}{{sfn|Greene & Massignani|pp=232–233}} Re di Portogallo was also rammed by the wooden ship of the line {{SMS|Kaiser|1858|6}}, but was only lightly damaged.{{sfn|Wilson|pp=238–239}}

Re di Portogallo was repaired after the battle,{{sfn|Ordovini, Petronio, & Sullivan|p=338}} and was rearmed in 1870 before becoming a gunnery training ship the following year. In 1875, the Regia Marina sold the ship for scrap, owing to the discovery that the green timbers used to build the hull had badly rotted.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=338}} In addition, the navy sought to offset the financial impact of the new {{sclass|Duilio|ironclad|5}} and {{sclass|Italia|ironclad|0}}es then under construction.{{sfn|Sondhaus|p=50–51}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|20em}}

• {{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 book

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|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

|isbn=978-0-938289-58-6

|ref={{sfnref|Greene & Massignani}}

}}

• {{cite magazine

|last1=Ordovini

|first1=Aldo F.

|last2=Petronio

|first2=Fulvio

|last3=Sullivan

|first3=David M.

|title=Capital Ships of the Royal Italian Navy, 1860–1918: Part I: The Formidabile, Principe di Carignano, Re d'Italia, Regina Maria Pia, Affondatore, Roma and Principe Amedeo Classes

|magazine=Warship International

|date=December 2014

|volume= 51

|issue= 4

|pages=323–360

|issn=0043-0374

|name-list-style=amp

|ref={{sfnref|Ordovini, Petronio, & Sullivan}}

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Silverstone

|first=Paul H.

|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships

|year=1984

|publisher=Hippocrene Books

|location=New York

|isbn=978-0-88254-979-8

|ref={{sfnref|Silverstone}}

}}

• {{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

|ref={{sfnref|Sondhaus}}

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Wilson

|first=Herbert Wrigley

|author-link=Herbert Wrigley Wilson

|title=Ironclads in Action: A Sketch of Naval Warfare from 1855 to 1895

|url=https://archive.org/details/ironcladsinacti00wilsgoog

|year=1896

|publisher=S. Low, Marston and Company

|location=London

|oclc=1111061

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}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/PQRS/re_italia.aspx Re d'Italia] Marina Militare website {{in lang|it}}

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Re d'Italia class ironclads}}

{{Italian ironclads}}