The Italian ''Castore''-class gunboats, and , were a

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 ...

of two Rendel gunboats, designed and built by Sir W G Armstrong Mitchell & Co.'s Elswick Works in the late 1880s to a contract by the Italian War Ministry. Designed by Philip Watts and Herbert Rowell, and constructed in Elswick's

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

yard in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the two gunboats were disassembled and shipped to Italy for reassembly in the Armstrong facility at

Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...

, proving to be the only ships constructed there after the Italian government cancelled the shipyard project. It is uncertain whether the vessels were designed as testbeds for heavy guns, or were intended from the outset as operational gunboats.

Design

Both vessels were laid down in the Elswick yard on 22 February 1887. Built to a design calling for a length of and a beam of , giving them a

length to beam ratio Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

of 3.1:1, they displaced under normal conditions, and were powered by two steam engines, driving a pair of

propellers A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

that gave a speed of around . As constructed, both vessels were armed with a single, massive Krupp , 32- caliber cannon mounted on the stern, that could be elevated to an angle of 13 degrees, firing a shell.

''Castore''

''Castore'' was launched in September 1888, and conducted her trials in 1889 at Pozzuoli. She had her heavy gun removed in 1889, and was commissioned into the Italian Navy on 18 July 1891 as a gunboat.Gardiner 1985, p. 258. Rearmed with a single gun, she served until 1899 when she was disarmed and reclassified as a barge.Brook ''in'' Preston 2003, pp. 108-110. In 1904, she was reclassified again as a minelayer, and served in that role until late 1915 when she was designated as a torpedo testing craft. After serving in this role throughout the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she was stricken and discarded on 8 October 1925.

''Polluce''

''Polluce'' was launched in October 1888, and conducted her trials in 1889 at Pozzuoli. She was commissioned into the Italian Navy on 18 July 1891 along with her sister vessel, but retained her heavy gun until 1899, when she was rearmed with a single gun. She saw no action in her time serving the Regia Marina, and in 1911, she was stricken and discarded.

References

Citation

Bibliography

*Brook, Peter. "Armstrongs and the Italian Navy". ''in'' Preston, Antony (ed.). ''Warship 2002-2003''. London: Conway Maritime Press, 2003. pp. 94–115. *

External links

Classe Castore
Marina Militare website {{WWI Italian ships World War I naval ships of Italy Gunboats of the United Kingdom Gunboats of the Regia Marina Gunboat classes