The Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia (Royal Dockyard of Castellammare di Stabia) was founded in 1783 by

Sir John Acton John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), better known as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer. He is best remembered for the remark he wr ...

, Prime Minister of Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples. Its first vessel, the , was completed three years later. The shipyard was initially unable to build more than one

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

and a

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

simultaneously until it was enlarged by order of King Joachim Murat in 1808. It built its first steam-powered ship in the early 1840s. The shipyard was absorbed by the Naples-based holding company,

Navalmeccanica The Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia (Royal Dockyard of Castellammare di Stabia) was founded in 1783 by Sir John Acton, Prime Minister of Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples. Its first vessel, the , was completed three years later. Th ...

, in 1939. Almost totally destroyed during World War II, the dockyard had to be rebuilt before it could resume operations. Navalmeccanica was incorporated into Italcantieri in 1966, which was in turn taken over by Fincantieri in 1984.

Bibliography

* Shipyards of Italy Castellammare di Stabia Fincantieri Shipbuilding companies of Italy {{Italy-company-stub