''Alfredo Cappellini'' was an Italian

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

converted from the

floating crane Floating may refer to: * a type of dental work performed on horse teeth * use of an isolation tank * the guitar-playing technique where chords are sustained rather than scratched * ''Floating'' (play), by Hugh Hughes * Floating (psychological phe ...

''GA53'' during

World War I 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 bombarded Austro-Hungarian positions during the

Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo The Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was a World War I battle fought by the Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946), Italian and Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Armies on the Italian Front (World War I), Italian Front between 18 August and 12 September 191 ...

in 1917 before she lost in a storm off

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

on 16 November 1917.

Development and description

''Alfredo Cappellini'' was built when

Cannone navali da 381/40 The Cannone navale da 381/40 was an Italian naval gun intended to equip the dreadnought battleships of the . The ships were cancelled in 1916 and their guns were diverted to other uses. Four of the seven turned over to the (Italian Army) became ...

guns from the s became available after their construction was suspended in 1916. Her guns were built by Ansaldo-Schneider and originally destined for the ''Francesco Morosini''. Converted from the floating crane ''GA53'', she displaced , with a

length 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 ...

of , a beam of and a draft of . The ship was powered by one vertical double-expansion steam engine. On sea trials the ship reached a maximum speed of , but her maximum speed in regular service was about .Trawick and Wiltering, p. 298 Her hull and

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

were unarmored, but she was protected by two

anti-torpedo net Torpedo nets were a passive ship defensive device against torpedoes. They were in common use from the 1890s until the Second World War. They were superseded by the anti-torpedo bulge and torpedo belts. Origins With the introduction of the Whitehe ...

s. Her main guns could elevate 20° and her turret could traverse 30° to either side. They fired an

armor-piercing Armour-piercing ammunition (AP) is a type of projectile designed to penetrate either body armour or vehicle armour. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armour-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armour carried on many warsh ...

shell at a

muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...

of to a range of at maximum elevation.

Service

''Alfredo Cappellini'' was launched in 1916, even before the battleships were officially suspended, by the Orlando Shipyard, in Livorno, completed on 24 April 1917 and commissioned four days later. Her first action came during the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo in August 1917. She, in company with the Italian monitor and the British monitors and , bombarded Austrian positions with little noticeable effect. She foundered in a storm off Ancona on 16 November 1917, with the loss of 69 of her 73 crew.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Historical Ships
Marina Militare website {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfredo Cappellini World War I naval ships of Italy 1916 ships Ships built in Livorno Maritime incidents in 1917 World War I shipwrecks in the Adriatic Sea