was a

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...

of the Italian (Royal Navy) built in the 1880s. She was the fourth and final member of the , which included three sister ships of slightly smaller dimensions. Named for the condottiero of the same name, she was the only member of her class not named for a volcano. The ship was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in December 1885, launched in August 1888, and was commissioned in November 1889. She was armed with a

main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...

of two and a

secondary battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or pri ...

of six guns, and could steam at a speed of around . had a relatively uneventful career; her first decade in service was confined to the normal peacetime routine of training with the Italian fleet. She thereafter spent most of her career abroad, including a deployment to China to help suppress the Boxer Uprising in 1900 and tours in African and North American waters in the mid-1900s. She was stricken from the

naval register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

in July 1909 and sold for scrap.

Design

The four ships of the class were designed in Italy as domestically produced versions of the British-built cruiser . The Italian government secured a manufacturing license from the British firm

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...

, but the design was revised by the Italian naval engineer Carlo Vigna. These cruisers were intended to serve as " battleship destroyers", and represented a temporary embrace of the doctrine by the Italian naval command. Compared to her half-sisters, was almost longer at

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, and wider with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of . She had a mean

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of and displaced . Her crew numbered 17 officers and 298 men. Designed to be a half-knot faster than her sisters, the ship had two horizontal compound steam engines, each driving a single propeller, with steam provided by four double-ended cylindrical

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

s. was the fastest ship in her

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

and reached a maximum speed of from during her

sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...

. She had a cruising radius of at a speed of . The main armament of the ships consisted of two Armstrong , 30- caliber breech-loading guns mounted in

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...

s fore and aft. She was also equipped with a

of six , 40-caliber, breech-loading guns that were carried in

sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...

s along the sides of the ship. For anti-

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

defense, was fitted with six 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns and eight 1-pounder Hotchkiss guns. The ship was also armed with three

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s. She was protected with an armor deck below the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

with a maximum thickness of . The conning tower had worth of armor plating.

Service history

was built by the shipyard in Livorno. Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was

on 31 December 1885 and her completed hull was launched on 30 August 1888. After

fitting-out Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...

work was finished, she was commissioned into the Italian fleet on 16 November 1889. and her sisters and participated in the 1893 naval maneuvers as part of the Squadron of Maneuvers. She was assigned to the 3rd Division, along with and the

torpedo cruiser A torpedo cruiser is a type of warship that is armed primarily with torpedoes. The major navies began building torpedo cruisers shortly after the invention of the locomotive Whitehead torpedo in the 1860s. The development of the torpedo gave rise ...

and four torpedo boats. During the maneuvers, which lasted from 6 August to 5 September, the ships of the Reserve Squadron defended against a simulated attack by the Active Squadron, which gamed a French attack on the Italian fleet. On 1 October, she was assigned to the 3rd Department, which was stationed in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

; she remained there through the following year. and next participated in the 1896 naval maneuvers as part of the Maneuver Fleet. In 1897,

Enrico Toti Enrico Toti (20 August 1882 in Rome – 6 August 1916 in Monfalcone) was an Italian cyclist, patriot and hero of World War I. Life Enrico Toti was born and raised in San Giovanni, a popular district of Rome, by his father Nicola Toti, a ra ...

served aboard the ship. and were sent to China in 1900 to assist the Eight-Nation Alliance in putting down the Boxer Uprising there. returned to Italy and made a cruise off East Africa in 1905. She then sailed across the Atlantic and made a number of port visits in South America. The ship was then assigned to the American Squadron and refitted in Boston in November 1906. During the cruiser in North American waters, Rear Admiral Roberto Cali was aboard the ship. Later that month, she visited

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, where several of her officers, including Cali, attended a celebration for Admiral

George Dewey George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...

of the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

on 30 November. In 1908 she visited Bridgeport, Connecticut in the United States for celebrations on

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. ...

. There, bluejackets from and the US

pre-dreadnought battleship Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...

marched in a parade. Upon her return to Italy in 1909 was struck off the

on 15 July 1909 and sold for scrap.

Notes

References

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External links

Ettore Fieramosca
Marina Militare website {{DEFAULTSORT:Ettore Fieramosca Cruisers of Italy Etna-class protected cruisers Ships built in Livorno 1888 ships