Italian ironclad Venezia

Venezia was the second of two Roma-class ironclad warships built for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1860s. She was armed with a main battery of eighteen 254 mm (10 in) guns in a central armored casemate. Her lengthy construction time, a result of her re-design from a broadside ironclad, quickly rendered her obsolescent compared to the new turret ships that began to enter service in the 1880s. As a result, her career was limited. She became a training ship in 1881 and served until 1895. Venezia was broken up for scrap the next year.

Venezia at anchor in 1876
History
Kingdom of Italy
Name	Venezia
Namesake	Venice
Builder	Cantiere della Foce
Laid down	February 1863
Launched	21 January 1869
Completed	1 April 1873
Stricken	1895
Fate	Scrapped, 1895–1896
General characteristics
Class and type	Roma-class ironclad warship
Displacement	Normal: 5,722 long tons (5,814 t) Full load: 6,151 long tons (6,250 t)
Length	79.65 m (261 ft 4 in)
Beam	17.48 m (57 ft 4 in)
Draft	7.6 m (24 ft 11 in)
Installed power	6 fire-tube boilers 3,670 ihp (2,737 kW)
Propulsion	1 × marine steam engine 1 × screw propeller
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Range	1,940 nmi (3,590 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	549–551
Armament	18 × 254 mm (10 in) guns
Armor	Belt armor: 150 mm (5.9 in) Casemate: 121 mm (4.75 in)

Design

Main article: Roma-class ironclad

Venezia was 79.65 meters (261.3 ft) long between perpendiculars; she had a beam of 17.48 m (57.3 ft) and an average draft of 7.6 m (25 ft). She displaced 5,722 long tons (5,814 t) normally and up to 6,151 long tons (6,250 t) at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of one single-expansion steam engine that drove a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by six coal-fired, cylindrical fire-tube boilers that were vented through a single funnel. Her engine produced a top speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) from 3,670 indicated horsepower (2,740 kW). She could steam for 1,940 nautical miles (3,590 km; 2,230 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The ship was barque-rigged to supplement the steam engine. She had a crew of 549–551 officers and men.^[1]

Venezia was designed as a broadside ironclad, but other navies had developed the central battery ship while she was under construction, prompting the Italian Navy to re-design the ship.^[2] She was armed with a main battery of eighteen 254 mm (10 in) guns placed in a central casemate. The central battery design allowed two guns to fire ahead and two to fire astern. The ship was protected by iron belt armor that was 150 mm (5.9 in) thick and extended for the entire length of the hull at the waterline. The casemate was protected with 121 mm (4.75 in) of iron plating.^[1]

Service history

Venezia's keel was laid down at the Cantiere della Foce shipyard in Genoa in February 1863, and her completed hull was launched on 21 January 1869. Fitting-out work was completed on 1 April 1873; the re-design work significantly delayed completion compared to her sister, which had been finished almost four years before.^[1] Despite being completed as a central battery ship, Venezia nevertheless rapidly became obsolescent, as the type was superseded by new turret ships like the Duilio class begun the same year she entered service.^[2] In addition, the Italian naval budget was drastically reduced following the defeat at Lissa in 1866, which reflected a stark decrease in the government's confidence in the fleet. As a result, she saw little use during her career.^[3][4]

The ship's first major activity came soon after commissioning, serving as the flagship of Rear Admiral de Monale. In mid-1873, she several other Italian warships sailed to Spain during the Cantonal rebellion, along with a significant number of warships from other countries. In September, she and the aviso Authion were anchored off Escombreras, along with the British ironclad HMS Lord Warden and gunboats Torch, Hart, and Pheasant, and the Austro-Hungarian gunboat SMS Velebich.^[5]

On 23 November 1879, Venezia ran aground off Zakynthos, Greece,^[6] but she was later refloated. Venzia was converted into a torpedo training ship in 1881; her sailing rig was cut down and she was equipped with four 75 mm (3 in) guns and four 57 mm (2.2 in) guns. Her crew was significantly reduced to 302 officers and men. She served in this capacity until 23 August 1895 in La Spezia. The ship was stricken that year and had been broken up by 1896.^[1]

Notes

1. Fraccaroli, p. 339.
2. Sondhaus 2001, p. 112.
3. Ordovini, Petronio, & Sullivan, p. 348.
4. Sondhaus 1994, pp. 49–50.
5. Bewegungen, pp. 15–18.
6. "Shipping". Liverpool Mercury. No. 9944. Liverpool. 26 November 1879.

References

• "Bewegungen S. M. Kriegsschiffe vom 1. September 1873 bis 31. August 1874" [Movements of S. M. Warships from 1 September 1873 to 31 August 1874]. Jahrbuch der Kais. Kön. Kriegsmarine [Yearbook of the Imperial and Royal Navy]. Pola: Verlag der Redaction: 15–26. 1874.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1979). "Italy". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 334–359. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Ordovini, Aldo F.; Petronio, Fulvio & Sullivan, David M. (December 2014). "Capital Ships of the Royal Italian Navy, 1860–1918: Part I: The Formidabile, Principe di Carignano, Re d'Italia, Regina Maria Pia, Affondatore, Roma and Principe Amedeo Classes". Warship International. Vol. 51, no. 4. pp. 323–360. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-034-9.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21478-0.

External links

• Venezia Marina Militare website (in Italian)