Italy (1886-1920) A quite powerful Italian protected cruiser Piemonte was designed at the request of the Italian government, which wanted to strengthen the Regia Marina in the event of a new war against Austria. The order was placed at the world-renowned Armstrong-Elswick shipyard. Chief Engineer Philip Watts took the opportunity to propose the Italian commission … Read more
Italy (1895) – Vettor Pisani, Carlo Alberto These two armoured cruisers succeeded the unique Marco Polo. Criticisms of the latter (armament and armor too light) led the engineers under the direction of Edoardo Masdea to design much heavier ships (7000 tons at full load against 4800 to house a battery of 12 pieces of 152 … Read more
Italy – Regia Marina Adm. Di St Bon, Emanuele Filiberto Battleships on a Budget: It’s rather rare that battleships are named after the minister that first proposed them. But such was the case of the Ammiraglio Di Saint Bon. She was the first of a couple of capital ships designed in opposition to previous battleships, … Read more
Regia Marina (1911): Battleships Guilio Cesare, Conte di Cavour, Leonardo Da Vinci The new Italian Battleships The first Italian dreadnought (the irony was the concept was Italian-born, Cuniberti thinking of a glorified, fast armoured cruiser rather than a new class of battleship, but picked up and realized by Admiral Fisher) was the Dante Alighieri (launched … Read more
Italian Armoured Cruiser (1888) The First Italian Armoured Cruiser The Marco Polo was the first Italian armoured cruiser. She was designed by chief engineer Carlo Vigna in 1889, and laid down in January 1890 in Castellamare di Stabia but was closely based on the Etna class cruisers. She was modified during construction as an armored … Read more
Grillo class tracked torpedo launches (1918) Italy (1918) Tracked MTB or amphibious tank ? The Grillo is one of the least known Italian small craft of ww1, and for good reasons as on an operational level it did not really moved the needle. But this was one of these purpose-built mechanical contraptions that escape all … Read more
Italy (1885): Etna, Vesuvio, Stromboli, Fieramosca The first Italian modern protected cruisers: Etna was the only survivor of a class of four protected cruisers dating from 1885-1888. Designed by Carlo Vigna and George Rendel, they were based on the Giovanni Bausan of 1883, herself largely based on a Sir W G Armstrong Mitchell & Co.’s … Read more
Caio Duilio, Dandolo (1873-1920) Caio Duilio was the lead ship of a class of ironclad turret ships, built for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1870s, named after Roman Admiral Gaius Duilius. Duilio was started in January 1873, launched in May 1876, and completed in January 1880. She led a class also comprising Dandolo, both … Read more
