Italian Cruiser Partenope

''Partenope'' was a torpedo cruiser built for the Italian ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) in the 1880s, the lead ship of her class, which included seven other vessels. The ship was built by the ''Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia''; she was laid down in June 1888, was launched in December 1889, and was completed in September 1890. Her main armament were her five torpedo tubes, which were supported by a battery of ten small-caliber guns.

''Partenope'' spent most of her career in the main Italian fleet, where she was primarily occupied with training exercises. In 1906–08, she was converted into a minelayer, losing her torpedo tubes. During the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–12, she provided gunfire support to Italian forces in Libya. She was used to lay a series of minefields in the Adriatic Sea after Italy entered World War I in 1915. In March 1918, ''Partenope'' was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine off Bizerte.

Design

The ''Partenope''-class cruisers were derivatives of the earlier, experimental s, themselves based on the preceding cruiser . The class marked a temporary shift toward the ideas of the in Italian naval thinking. The doctrine emphasized the use of small, torpedo-armed craft to destroy expensive ironclads.

''Partenope'' was long overall and had a beam of and an average draft of . She displaced normally. The ship had a short forecastle deck that terminated at the conning tower. She had a crew of between 96 and 121 personnel.

Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal triple-expansion steam engines each driving a single screw propeller. Steam was supplied by four coal-fired locomotive boilers, which were vented through two widely spaced funnels. Specific figures for ''Partenope''s engine performance have not survived, but the ships of her class had top speeds of at . The ship had a cruising radius of about at a speed of .

''Partenope'' was armed with a main battery of one /40 gun placed on the forecastle. Close-range defense against torpedo boats was provided by a secondary battery of six /43 guns mounted singly. She was also equipped with three /20 guns in single mounts. Her primary offensive weapon was her five torpedo tubes. The ship was protected by an armored deck that was up to thick; her conning tower was armored with the same thickness of steel plate.

Service history

''Partenope'' was laid down on 8 June 1888 at the Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia (Royal Dockyard in Castellammare di Stabia), and was launched on 23 December 1889. After fitting-out work was completed, the ship was commissioned into the fleet on 11 September 1890. Throughout the first decade of her career, ''Partenope'' primarily served with the main Italian fleet in the 2nd Division, which was usually kept in reserve. The reserve ships were typically only kept in service for three months of the year for annual training maneuvers, while the 1st Division was on active status for nine months per year.

In 1893, ''Partenope'' was assigned to the 2nd Division of the Italian fleet, along with the ironclad and the protected cruiser . By 1895, the 2nd Division consisted of the ironclads and , along with ''Partenope''. ''Partenope'' joined the ironclads , ''Sardegna'', ''Ruggiero di Lauria'', and and the cruisers and for a visit to Spithead in the United Kingdom in July 1895. All of the ships, save ''Sardegna'' and ''Ruggiero di Lauria'', joined an international naval demonstration in late 1895 off Crete during a period of tension between Greece and the Ottoman Empire that culminated in the Greco-Turkish War. ''Partenope'' joined the 2nd Divsion of the active fleet in 1897, which also included ''Andrea Doria'', the armored cruiser , the protected cruisers , ''Stromboli'', and , and the torpedo cruiser and . By 1899, the division consisted of the ironclads , , and and her sister ship in addition to ''Partenope''. During 1901, ''Partenope'' was joined by the ironclads ''Dandolo'', ''Andrea Doria'', and , the armored cruiser , and three torpedo boats.

By 1904, the Italian fleet had expanded enough to increase the 1st Division to the 1st Squadron; this unit spent seven months in commission for training and five in reserve. ''Partenope'' was transferred to the new unit, along with her sister . The 1st Squadron included six battleships, four other cruisers, and nine destroyers. Between 1906 and 1908, the ship was modernized and converted into a minelayer. She received new oil-fired boilers and had her armament reduced to two guns, four 57 mm guns and two 37 mm guns. ''Partenope''s speed was reduced to on . The ship was now equipped to carry sixty naval mines, with a bank of thirty mines on a platform on each side of the ship.

At the start of the Italo-Turkish War in September 1911, ''Partenope'' was attached to the 2nd Division of the 1st Squadron of the Italian fleet. By this time, she was being used as a minelayer. On 9 November, she, the armored cruiser ''Carlo Alberto'', the protected cruiser ''Liguria'', and the torpedo boat provided critical gunfire support that broke a series of Ottoman attacks on the city of Tripoli. A month later, ''Partenope'', ''Liguria'', and the torpedo boats and conducted a series of bombardments on the ports of Zuwarah, Misrata, and Argub. ''Partenope'' then returned to Tripoli, where she continued providing gunfire support to the defending Italian garrison there. She and the ironclads ''Sardegna'' and ''Re Umberto'' bombarded the oasis at Taguira, though no Turkish forces were present. The Italians then sent a garrison to protect the oasis.

Italy had declared neutrality at the start of World War I, but by July 1915, the Triple Entente had convinced the Italians to enter the war against the Central Powers. Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, the Italian naval chief of staff, believed that the threat from Austro-Hungarian submarines and naval mines in the narrow waters of the Adriatic was too serious for him to use the fleet in an active way. Instead, Revel decided to implement a blockade at the relatively safer southern end of the Adriatic with the main fleet, while smaller vessels, such as the MAS boats, conducted raids on Austro-Hungarian ships and installations. ''Partenope'' was initially used to lay a series of defensive minefields, along with her sister ''Minerva'' and the cruiser , in support of this strategy. On 24 March 1918, the German U-boat torpedoed and sank ''Partenope'' north of Bizerte, Tunisia, at coordinates .

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External links

Partenope
Marina Militare website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Partenope
Partenope-class cruisers
1889 ships
Ships built in Castellammare di Stabia
World War I cruisers of Italy
Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I
Maritime incidents in 1918
World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea