Ammiraglio di Saint Bon-class battleship

The previous Italian capital ships, the Re Umberto and the Ruggiero di Lauria classes of ironclad battleships, marked a period of experimentation on the part of Benedetto Brin, Admiral Simone di Pacoret Saint Bon, and the strategists of the Italian navy. Since the planners had not determined what type of battleship would best suit their strategic needs, the government stepped in and mandated a 10,000-long-ton (10,160 t) design, a limit significantly lower than the earlier classes. Following the death of di Saint Bon, Brin took over the design process and proposed a small battleship armed with 10 in (254 mm) guns, a weaker main battery than those of contemporary foreign designs.[1]

The ships, much smaller than their contemporaries, and slower than cruisers, were not particularly useful warships. The mistake of building a battleship of only 10,000 tons was not repeated in the subsequent, and much more successful, Regina Margherita class.[2]

General characteristics and machinery

Plan and profile drawing of the Ammiraglio di Saint Bon class

The ships of the Ammiraglio di Saint Bon class were 105 meters (344 ft 6 in) long at the waterline and 111.8 m (366 ft 10 in) long overall. They had a beam of 21.12 m (69 ft 3 in) and a maximum draft of 7.69 m (25 ft 3 in). Ammiraglio di Saint Bon displaced 10,082 long tons (10,244 t) at normal loading and 10,531 long tons (10,700 t) at full load, while Emanuele Filiberto displaced 9,645 long tons (9,800 t) and 9,940 long tons (10,100 t), respectively.[2]

The ships had an inverted bow and a relatively low freeboard of only 3 m (9.8 ft). They had a fairly large superstructure with a conning tower and high bridge forward and a large military mast fitted with fighting tops placed amidships. Abreast the mast, each ship carried a number of small boats. Ammiraglio di Saint Bon had a crew of 557 officers and enlisted men, while Emanuele Filiberto had a slightly larger complement of 565.[2]

The ships' propulsion system consisted of two triple-expansion steam engines, which drove a pair of screw propellers. Steam for the engines was provided by twelve coal-fired cylindrical fire-tube boilers, which were ducted into a pair of widely spaced funnels. Ammiraglio di Saint Bon's were rated at 14,296 indicated horsepower (10,661 kW), while Emanuele Filiberto's engines only reached 13,552 ihp (10,106 kW). The ships' propulsion system provided a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) and a range of approximately 3,400 to 5,500 nautical miles (6,300 to 10,200 km; 3,900 to 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[2]

Emanuele Filiberto at Fiume in late 1918 after the end of World War I

Ammiraglio di Saint Bon was built by the Venetian Arsenal in Venice. She was laid down on 18 July 1893, launched on 29 April 1897, and completed on 24 May 1901, although she had been commissioned on 1 February 1901. Emanuele Filiberto was named after Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta. She was built by the Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia (Royal Shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia), Naples. She was laid down on 5 October 1893, launched on 29 September 1897, and completed on 16 April 1902, although she had been commissioned on 6 September 1901.[2] The ships spend the first several years in the active duty squadron until they were replaced by the new Regina Elena-class battleships, which entered service by 1908.[3][4]

Both ships took part in the Italo-Turkish War in 1911–1912 in the 3rd Division with the two Regina Margherita-class battleships.[5] Emanuele Filiberto took part in the attack on Tripoli in October 1911,[6] though Ammiraglio di Saint Bon did not see action in the first months of the war. Both ships participated in the seizure of the island of Rhodes, where Ammiraglio di Saint Bon provided gunfire support to the soldiers ashore.[7]

The two ships were slated to be scrapped in 1914–1915 due to their age, but the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 prevented their disposal.[2] Italy initially remained neutral during the war, but by 1915, had been convinced by the Triple Entente to enter the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary.[8] Both Ammiraglio di Saint Bon and Emanuele Filiberto were used as harbor defense ships in Venice for the duration of the war, and did not see action there.[9] Neither ship remained in service long after the end of the war. Emanuele Filiberto was stricken from the naval register on 29 March 1920 and Ammiraglio di Saint Bon was stricken on 18 June. Both ships were subsequently discarded.[2]

• Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War: September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. OCLC 1408563.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1979). "Italy". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Annapolis: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 334–359. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-352-7.
• Hore, Peter (2006). The Ironclads. London: Southwater Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84476-299-6.
• Leyland, John (1908). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Italian Manoeuvres". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 76–81.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence (1994). The Naval Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1867–1918. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press. ISBN 978-1-55753-034-9.
• Willmott, H. P. (2009). The Last Century of Sea Power (Volume 1, From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894–1922). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-35214-9.

• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0105-3.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ammiraglio di Saint Bon class battleship.

• Ammiraglio di Saint Bon (1897) Marina Militare website