The Pisa class was a series of three armored cruisers built in Italy from 1905 - 1910.

Description

The ships were designed and built in Italy but were armed with British Elswick Ordnance Company guns.

History

The 3 Pisa-class armored cruisers were originally built for the Italian Regia Marina

Regia Marina

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

. However, budget problems led to the third ship being sold to Greece before completion. It was completed as Georgios Averof

Greek cruiser Georgios Averof

Georgios Averof is a Greek warship which served as the flagship of the Royal Hellenic Navy during most of the first half of the 20th Century...

for Greece, armed with 9.2-inch instead of 10-inch main guns. Georgios Averof served with the Hellenic Navy

Hellenic Navy

The Hellenic Navy is the naval force of Greece, part of the Greek Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy has its roots in the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence...

 in the Balkan Wars

Balkan Wars

The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...

, 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...

 and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It was decommissioned in 1952 and is now preserved as a museum ship in Faliron Bay near Athens.

Amalfi

Italian armored cruiser Amalfi

Amalfi was a of the Italian Royal Navy built in the first decade of the 20th century. She was a participant in the Italo-Turkish War and the First World War before she was sunk in July 1915....

 served with the Regia Marina

Regia Marina

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

in 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...

 and was torpedoed and sunk in 1915. Pisa also served with the Regia Marina. It was reclassified as a coastal battleship

Coastal defence ship

Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament...

in 1921 and was used as a training ship until being scrapped in 1937.