Italian battleship Ruggiero di Lauria
| File:Italian battleship Ruggiero di Lauria.jpg | |
| Career (Italy) | Ensign of the Italian Navy |
|---|---|
| Name: | Ruggiero di Lauria |
| Namesake: | Roger of Lauria (ca. 1245-1305), a Sicilian-Aragonese admiral |
| Operator: | Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) |
| Builder: | Castellammare Naval Shipyard |
| Laid down: | 3 August 1881 |
| Launched: | 9 August 1884 |
| Completed: | 1 February 1888 |
| Struck: | 11 November 1909 |
| Fate: |
Sunk in shallow water 1943 Scrapped 1946-1947 |
| Notes: | Served as floating oil tank GM45 ca. 1909-1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Ruggiero di Lauria-class pre-dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement: |
9,886 long tons (10,045 t) normal 10,997 long tons (11,173 t) full load |
| Length: |
328 ft 1 in (100.0 m) between perpendiculars 347 ft 5 in (105.9 m) length overall |
| Beam: | 65 ft 1 in (19.8 m) |
| Draft: | 27 ft 2 in (8.3 m) |
| Installed power: | 10,591 ihp (7,898 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shafts compound engine, 8 cylindrical boilers |
| Speed: | 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h) |
| Endurance: | 2,800 nautical miles (5,186 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 507, later 509 |
| Armament: |
As built: *4 × 17-inch (432 mm)/27 guns (2x2) *2 × 6-inch (152 mm)/32 guns *4 × 14-inch (356 mm) submerged torpedo tubes Added in 1900: *2 × 75mm guns *10 × 57mm/40 quick-firing guns *12 × 37mm guns *5 × 37mm/20 revolvers *2 × machine guns |
| Armor: |
Steel armor Side: 17 in (431.8 mm) Deck: 3 in (76.2 mm) Citadel: 14.2 in (361 mm) Barbettes: 14.2 in (361 mm) Conning tower: 9.8 in (249 mm) |
Ruggiero di Lauria was an Italian battleship launched in 1884. She was the lead ship of the Ruggiero di Lauria-class pre-dreadnoughts, and served in the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[1]
Design
Eng Insp Giuseppe Micheli designed the Ruggiero di Lauria class ships. He chose essentially to repeat the Duilio-class design; he did, however, improve on the Duilio class by giving the Ruggiero di Lauria-class ships breech-loading 17-inch (432 mm) guns (the Duilio class had been armed with 17.7-inch (450 mm) muzzle loaders) mounted in barbettes rather than turrets, a high forecastle, a better quality of armor, and a better distribution of armor. The main battery was mounted in twin mounts close together en echelon amidships, with the port barbette aft of the starboard one.[1]
Ruggiero di Lauria had the most powerful propulsion machinery of the three ships of her class and was about a knot faster than them. In 1900, additions were made to her tertiary armament.[1]
Construction
Ruggiero di Lauria was under construction for six and a half years. She was laid down at Castellammare Naval Shipyard on 3 August 1881 and launched on 9 August 1884. She was not completed for another three and a half years, her construction finally being finished on 1 February 1888. Because of the rapid pace of naval technological development in the late 19th century, her lengthy construction period meant that she was an obsolete design by the time she entered service.[1]
Operational history
After a fairly short operational life, Ruggiero di Lauria was stricken on 11 November 1909. She then served as the floating oil tank GM45 at La Spezia until 1943, when she was sunk in shallow water in an air raid during World War II. Her wreck was scrapped in 1946-1947.[1][2]
Notes
References
- Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, eds. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1979. ISBN 0831703024.
- Gray, Randal, Ed. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0870219073.
See also
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