Italia was an Italian battleship launched in 1880, the lead ship of the Italia class

Italia class battleship

The Italia-class battleships were a class of two Italian battleships which served in the Regia Marina during the late 19th and early 20th centuries...

. She served in the Regia Marina

Regia Marina

The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...

(Italian Royal Navy) during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She and her sister ship

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

 Lepanto

Italian battleship Lepanto

Lepanto was an Italian battleship launched in 1883, the second and last ship of the Italia class. She served in the Regia Marina during the late 19th and early 20th centuries...

 were the largest and fastest warships in the world for several years after they entered service, and in many ways were the forerunners of the battlecruiser

Battlecruiser

Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...

s that appeared in the early 20th century.

Design

Insp Eng Benedetto Brin

Benedetto Brin

Benedetto Brin was an Italian naval administrator and politician.-Biography:Born in Turin, he worked with distinction as a naval engineer until the age of forty. In 1873, Admiral Simone Arturo Saint-Bon, Italy's Naval Minister, appointed him undersecretary of state...

 (1833–1898) designed Italia in the 1870s. A very large and fast warship for her time, Italia displaced 15,407 tons at full load and could make 17.8 knots (34.9 km/h). Reflecting the thinking of the time that modern guns could penetrate any armor, Brin designed Italia without any side armor, instead employing a cellular raft design; he did, however, design her with steel armor for her deck, citadel, and conning tower. Her hull was constructed of iron and steel covered by wood, which in turn was covered by zinc

Zinc

Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

. An unusual feature of Italia was her ability to carry an entire infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 division

Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

 of 10,000 men, allowing her to play a strategic role in deploying Italian troops.

Italias main battery consisted of four 17 inches (432 mm) guns mounted in pairs en echelon amidships in a single, large, diagonal, oval barbette

Barbette

A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...

, with one pair of guns on a turntable to port and the other to starboard; the port pair was mounted aft of the starboard pair. Three were 26-caliber Model 431C guns weighing 102.5 tons each, while the fourth was a 27-caliber Model 431B weighing 103.5 tons; all four fired a 2,000-pound (907-kilogram) shell at a muzzle velocity

Muzzle velocity

Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...

 of 1,755 feet (535 m) per second. Her secondary, tertiary, and torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

 armament underwent various changes during her career.

Built with six funnels

Funnel (ship)

A funnel is the smokestack or chimney on a ship used to expel boiler steam and smoke or engine exhaust. They can also be known in as stacks.-Purpose:...

 and one central mast, Italia underwent a refit between 1905 and 1908 in which her funnels were reduced to four and her mast was replaced by two new masts. She also had some of her secondary and tertiary guns removed.

Construction

Italia was under construction for nearly 10 years. She was laid down at Castellammare

Castellammare

Castellammare may refer to one the following municipalities in southern Italy:*Castellammare di Stabia, a commune in Napoli province, Campania region...

 Naval Shipyard on 3 January 1876, then spent over four-and-a-half years on the building ways and was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 29 September 1880. She was not completed for another five years, her construction finally being finished on 16 October 1885. She nonetheless was completed 22 months before her sister Lepanto, which took almost 11 years to build.

Operational history

Italia was in front-line service until her 1905-1908 refit. From 1909 to 1910 she served as a torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

 training ship, and in 1912 she became a training ship for petty officer

Petty Officer

A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...

s. In 1914 she became the central ship for the defense of Taranto

Taranto

Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....

, but was laid up on 1 June 1914 and stricken from the navy list

Navy List

A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country....

 on 4 June 1914.

On 20 April 1915, Italia was towed to Brindisi

Brindisi

Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...

. Reinstated on the navy list on 23 May 1915 (the same day Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 published its declaration of war bringing it into World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 on the side of the Allies

Allies of World War I

The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...

) and recommissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 as a "first-class auxiliary" on 1 June 1915, Italia served as a floating battery

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 in the outer harbor of Brindisi for the defense of the naval base there until 16 December 1917. For this service, all of her armament was removed except for her four 17-inch (432-mm) guns.

After her service at Brindisi ended, Italia moved to La Spezia

La Spezia

La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...

, which she reached before the end of 1917. There she was converted into a cereal

Cereal

Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...

 carrier, with her 17-inch (432-mm) guns removed and her armament reduced to two 4.7-inch (120-mm) 32-caliber guns installed during the conversion.

Her conversion complete, Italia entered service as a cereal carrier under authority of the Ministry of Transport

Italian Minister of Transports

This is a list of the Italian Ministers of Transports. The list shows also the ministers that served under the same office but with other names. In fact this Ministry has changed name many times....

 on 1 June 1919, and on 27 July 1919 she was transferred from the Regia Marina to the Italian State Railways. She was returned to the Regia Marina on 13 January 1921 and stricken on 16 November 1921. She subsequently was scrapped.