Ruggiero di Lauria class Ironclads (1884)

Development

Portrait of the Sinking of Re d’Italia

The Ghosts of Lissa

Following the formal unification of Italy in 1870, many within the Regia Marina still remembered the bitter defeat of the nascent navy at the Battle of Lissa in 1866 and, as such, left the future of the navy in a compromised state. Many within its upper echelons saw no possibility that the Regia Marina could ever produce a proper deterrent to the Austrians or other naval powers and instead favoured strictly defensive measures in the form of coastal batteries and green-water vessels. This was until the entrance of an individual that would become a prominent voice in Italian naval design entered the fray. This man was Benedetto Brin, who sought to bring the Regia Marina to prominence as a formidable power in the Mediterranean and overtake their Austrian rivals. As described by the author Lawrence Sondhaus, Italian commerce needed “protection from a fleet respected by the rest of Europe.”

Brin would become renown for his favouring of heavily armoured and armed ships that carried weaponry larger than anything else in the world. In order to achieve his goal, he utilised lessons learned at Lissa would be incorporated with the ever-changing technologies of the day to create a powerful class of ironclads. The battle had shown the effectiveness of armour, with only one, the “cannoniera” Palestro, of nineteen ironclads being sunk by gunfire (the other ironclad, Re d’Italia, being sunk by a ram by the Austrian flagship SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max). While Italy’s own attempt at utilising the relatively new technology of turrets in the form of the ironclad ram Affondatore was not truly proven during the battle, continued developments over the years showed great potential in improving the versatility of a capital ship in comparison to the antiquated broadside design of many ironclads of the time and was especially superior to that of the casemate designs prevalent throughout Europe.

Plan of Duilio

The resulting ship was an impressive sight weighing in at 11,100 tons and armed with an equally massive main battery of four 17.7″ guns mounted in two twin turrets amidships. The main issue at hand was the fact that these ships had designs that relied on armour, machinery and weaponry that had to be imported from nations such as the United Kingdom due to the weak industry at home. With the immense amount of resources required and the fact that they needed to be imported came equally immense costs, which would become both a common theme with ships designed by Brin and a bane of many members of the Admiralty and government. While Brin’s efforts with the Caio Duilio class, and the successor Italia class (as well as his work in modernising the navy with its smaller vessels) were successful in bringing the Regia Marina into relevance and place it in a more favourable position than the Austrians, they would create a rift within the navy.

Ironclad Italia

This rift developed due to the previously mentioned cost of these ships and the fragile Italian industry and economy that had to cover the expenses. There were two main factions within the navy: those who supported Brin and the idea of large ships that boasted large calibre weapons and heavy armour and those who favoured a more economically-frugal approach that would see a large fleet of ships of lesser displacement.

One member of the latter faction was Ferdinando Acton, Minister of War and the Navy, who was able to gain the support of Parliament in restricting the next class of ships to a maximum tonnage of 10,000 tons at the despair of Brin, who no longer was in a position to influence design decisions. Acton chose naval engineer General Giuseppe Micheli to be the lead designer of the new class, with the goal in mind being three ships that could replace obsolete ironclads that were being decommissioned throughout the 1870s and 1880s.

Ferdinando Acton

Design of the class

While the class was meant to deviate from the expensive designs of Brin, Micheli actually chose to use the Duilio class as the basis for his ship. In fact, the Lauria class was essentially a repetition of the Duilios but modified so that they would fit the new restrictions and improve upon issues that had come about during the ships’ service lives. This included improvement in sea handling, better machinery, updated armament and a new form of armour. His design was accepted and the construction of three vessels was approved in 1881.

Ruggiero di Lauria was be built at Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia from 1881 to 1888, Francesco Morosini was built at Arsenale di Venezia from 1881 to 1889 and Andrea Doria at Arsenale di La Spezia from 1882 to 1891.

Diagram of Andrea Doria

Hull and General Design

The ships retained the general layout of the Duilios, including two superstructures fore and aft of the two main gun turrets situated en-echelon amidships. There was a raised walkway connecting the two superstructures and a large military mast directly amidships. One feature that characterised the class was the inclusion of two large cranes fore and aft that were used to manipulate the ships’ boats and assist in loading and unloading munitions and cargo. The hull itself would also retain the style of the Duilios, however one notable change was the complete removal of the welldeck in the aft portion. In order to improve seakeeping, the freeboard of the ship was raised including a significantly higher forecastle and a higher stern section. The ram was nearly identical, being fully submerged and a length of 3 meters.

Each ship would be slightly different from each other, with the main differences being their superstructure layout, funnel style and the design of their turrets. Lauria and Morosini were the most similar, while Doria would have more rounded turrets and alternate funnels.

The normal displacement of the ships was 9886 tons and at full load each ship was slightly heavier: Ruggiero di Lauria weighed in at 10,997 tons, Andrea Doria at 11,027 and Francesco Morosini at 11,145. Each ship would have the same overall length of 105.9 m and beam of 19.84 m but be slightly different in their draft: Lauria would measure in at 8.29 m, Doria at 8.32 and Morosini at 8.37. They would all have a compliment of 507.

Morosini Under Construction

Powerplant

One of the major upgrades to the Duilio design was with the powerplant, with the Laurias being equipped with eight cylindrical boilers mated to two double expansion engines that generated a total horsepower of 10,300 HP – a great improvement over the Duilios’ 7,710. The layout within the ship was the same with the engines being placed amidships and four boilers being situated fore and aft. Despite having a greater power production, the ships were not able to have an impressive increase in speed and had a maximum of 16 knots (however it is mentioned that Lauria was reported to have reached a top speed of 17 knots). In addition to being more powerful, these engines were also more efficient – Lauria was able to steam a distance of 7242 km using only 850 tons of coal. The Duilios, in comparison, only had a range of 6051 km at 10 knots.

Protection

As to be expected, the armour layout for the Lauria class was situated exactly the same as that of the Duilios. However, one difference between the two classes was the incorporation of improved Creusot-style compound armour that would increase the effectiveness of the belt. The thickest part of the belt was 450 mm of mild steel plate that was situated in an upper and lower section: the lower section spanned 50m in length along the centre portion of the hull while the upper section protected the two gun barbettes and had a length of 28m. At the end of the belts, two bulkheads of 360mm thick armour pieces were placed transversely so that they would create a lower “redoubt.” The gun barbettes themselves were 360mm thick and the gun turrets had a very thin thickness of only 25mm. The deck was armoured to a thickness of 75mm.

Armament

Crew with the Main Guns

The battleships of the Regia Marina during this period were renown for their incredible armament and the Lauria class was no different. As mentioned previously, another goal of this class was to improve over the Duilios’ armament and this was primarily due to issues that had come about on that class. These guns were muzzleloaded, which contributed to a slow rate of fire and in 1880 an explosion in one of Duilio’s guns. The Laurias would retain the massive 17″ 27-calibre weapons but would instead incorporate the modern breechloading technique assisted by hydraulic mechanisms. The decision to place the turrets in an en-echelon style was due to the idea that they could be used for direct fire on targets both during a pursuit and a retreat. The breechloading technique also assisted in the rate of fire, reducing it from one shot every 15 minutes to one every 8 minutes. The turrets of Lauria and Morosini were similar in shape, however Doria would have a more rounded design.

The ships would also be equipped with smaller guns, with the secondary battery incorporating two single 6″ Cannone 152/32 Modello 1887 mounts fore and aft and four 4.7 inch 32-calibre situated in two groups on the forecastle and the stern deck. Smaller calibres would be added in 1900 throughout the deck: 2 75mm, 10 57mm and 17 37mm guns. Finally, the ships carried five 14″ torpedo tubes with two submerged and three above water.

Cannone 152/32 Modello 1887 mount

Career of the Laurias

Named after the admiral Roger of Lauria, a famous admiral during the Middle Ages in service of Aragon, the ship was launched in 1884 to much fanfare. Nicola Lazzaro wrote in the August 1884 edition of L’Illustrazione Italiana wrote “In seeing it cradling on the waves, which lovingly lap its powerful sides, the cry of Viva l’Italia! erupts spontaneously, and hands automatically applaud the valiant builder” and continued on that “So mighty is this new warlike colossus of modern Italy, it bears the name of a man to whom victory always arisen; may it follow
its glorious traditions and bear high for the world l’itala bandiera.” Indeed, the ship seemingly had great potential to stand as the testament to the modern Regia Marina if it was not for the fact that it would take nearly four years later for construction to be complete.

Launch of Lauria, 1884

Upon commissioning into the Regia Marina, she was assigned to the First Division of the Permanent Squadron (Squadra Permanente) and would participate in mainly training and navigation exercises for the next two years until she was placed in reserve in November of 1890. Lauria would become well-acquainted with the reserve squadron, as the next few years would be a strange dance between active and reserve duties. In 1892 she was taken out of reserve and sent on a diplomatic mission to Greece and finally rejoining the Permanent Squadron in July of 1893 until being sent back to the First Division of the Reserve Squadron in September of the same year. She would then return to active service in 1895 and in May represent the Italian delegation at the inauguration of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and then joined her sisters in October of 1896 in the Second Division of the Manoeuvre Squadron.

Lauria at an Unknown Date

She would finally see action in a non-training or diplomatic role when in 1897 she joined the Italian delegation in the International Squadron that comprised forces of the many Great Powers of Europe to intervene in the Greco-Ottoman War, with Lauria being deployed off the coast of Crete. In March of that year she would be stationed at Hierapetra, where she prevented Cretan rebel forces from assaulting the city via threats to use her guns against any attacking forces. Upon her return to Italy she would be once again placed in reserve and cycle in and out of this status until she was refitted with new smaller calibre weaponry in 1900 and put in refit from 1901-1904. She was officially decommissioned in 1907 and ultimately stricken in 1909 then renamed GM 45 and served as a floating oil tank at La Spezia until being sunk by an air raid in 1943. She would then be scrapped entirely in 1945.

Lauria at an Unknown Date

The second ship of the class, she was named after the Venetian Doge of the late 17th century and laid down four months after Lauria. Similarly to her sister, she would be launched in 1885 and spend the next four years under construction before being mostly completed in 1889. The term “mostly completed” being applicable due to the fact that she would not be given armament until 1891, the same year in which Andrea Doria would be commissioned. In March of that year she would become the flagship of a Vice Admiral Noce, who was the commander of the Permanent Squadron. It would not be long before she was forced to be sent for repairs due to an incident in which she ran aground but this was quickly remedied and she would return to normal duties in July of 1891 and operated in regular exercises until being placed in reserve in 1893.

Launch of Morosini, 1885

Just a year later she would be returned to the Permanent Squadron and was assigned as flagship of the Second Division and sent to Gibraltar due to tensions in Morocco. From late 1896 to April of 1897 she would join her sisters as members of the Regia Marina’s delegation to the International Squadron, being named the flagship and would find herself off of the coast of the Ottoman Levant. In 1898 she would be present at the city of Milo where the Greek Prince George was ferried to Suda to transfer control over the island from the Ottomans to the new autonomous state. As flagship of the Levant Naval Force (Forza Navale del Levante) she would remain in that area until January of 1899 and returned to reserve status in April of that year.

Morosini Firing her Main Guns

Similarly to Lauria she would be given new small calibre armaments, but unlike her sister she would return to active service and join the Mediterranean Naval Force (Forza Navale del Mediterraneo). She would sail throughout the sea from locations such as Benghazi to the Levant throughout the year and make this trip once again in 1903, being sent for repairs shortly after returning to Italy and remaining in La Spezia until 1905. In 1907 she acted as a target ship for experiments to determine the affects of concussion from large calibre shells on the hull and armour belt. In 1909 she was finally decommissioned and once again served as a target ship, this time being used to test torpedoes. She would not survive and sank in the waters off of La Spezia with the wreck eventually being scrapped.

Morosini in 1907

Morosini Sinking

Launch of Doria

The third and final member of the class, Andrea Doria would be the first ship to start what would become a long line of ships that would hold the name of the Genoese condottiero. She would also hold the distinction of having the longest construction time of all three ships, being laid down in January of 1882 and only being completed in May of 1891. She would engage in testing for her guns in June of that year and immediately join the reserve squadron in November. After a year in reserve, she would join a new division under Contrammiraglio de Liguori alongside Lepanto and Duilio. Like her sisters she would cycle through membership in the reserve and active squadrons, only being fully returned to active duty in 1895 as part of the First Division and joining her sister Lauria in celebrating the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. After this ceremony she had to assist with the recovery of the battleship Sardegna, who had run aground off the coast of the United Kingdom. She would return to Naples in August of that year and eventually depart for another round of exercises and a mission to Smirne in November. Surprisingly, she would not be returned to the reserves and continued in active service.

Doria at Sea

As with her sisters, she would be active within the International Squadron and operate off of the coast of the Ottoman Levant from late 1896 to June 1897. Following another cycling of active and reserve duty from 1898 to 1899, she would be assigned to the Mediterranean Naval Force (Forza Navale del Mediterraneo) and cruise the Mediterranean throughout 1900 and 1901. From 1903 to 1907 she would remain in a state of reserve until being sent to Venice to become a depot ship until 1911 when she was officially decommissioned.

Doria at Sea, notice the smooth curve of the turrets

She would gain a new life as a barracks ship in Taranto and become a floating battery in 1915 at the port of Brindisi, being redesignated as the “pontone Andrea Doria” (literally “Andrea Doria Pontoon”). She would eventually gain the new name of GR 104 and used as a floating oil tank until being scrapped in 1929.