Built as an armoured frigate under yard No 123 by William H.Webb, New York for the Italian Navy.
14 December 1859 ordered.
21 November 1861 laid down.
18 April 1863 launched as the RE D’ITALIA, one sistership.
Displacement 5,869 ton, dim. 99.6 x 16.8 x 6.2m. (draught).
Powered by one expansion steam engine, 1,845 ihp, speed 12 knots.
Range 1,800 mile.
Armament: 4 – 72 pdr. 30 – 160 mm, 2 – 200mm guns.
Three masts, barque rigged. Total sail area 21,317 square feet.
Crew 565.
18 September 1864 completed.
She left the United States on 08 March 1864 and arrived in Italy on 10 April.
15 April 1865 the Commander in Chief appointed her as his flagship and she was assigned for the operations against Austria in the Adriatic Sea.
07 May 1866 Admiral Count Carlo Persano raised hid flag on her, and on 11 May Captain first class Emilio Faa di Bruno took command of the vessel.
Till 21 June the RE D”ITALIA was based in Taranto, then she sailed to Ancona where she arrived on the 25th.
16 July the squadron sailed from Ancona to attack Lissa and support a landing of Italian troops.
RE D”ITALIA attacks on 18 and 19 July the strongholds of Lissa and bombarded the forts of Porto San Giorgio, while on the 20th she attacked “Batarija Madonna” to cover the Italian landing operations.
When the Austrian navy was informed of the attack on Lissa a squadron of the Austrian fleet under command of Admiral Wilhelm Tegethoff sailed out to attack the Italian squadron.
When Admiral Persano became aware of the Austrian fleet he left with his staff the RE D’ITALIA and raised his flag on board the AFFONDATORE without informing the other captains of his fleet.
The Austrian squadron penetrated the Italian squadron on a ram course and in the battle, now known as the Battle of Lissa on 20 July 1866 the .RE D’ITALIA was in a position about 300 metres from the Austrian battleships and a violent fire was opened by her what was replied by the Austrian ships.
An enemy shell exploded on board the RE D’ITALIA which started a fire in the accommodation, while an other shell severed the communications between the bridge and the rudder, and she became unsteerable.
Captain Faa di Bruno although wounded did still give orders, but by a not working rudder ordered to stop the engines and then to give full astern before she was rammed by the Austrian flagship SMS ERZHERZOG FERDINAND MAX and got a large hole on her side, she capsized almost immediately taken with her 383 of her crew including Captain Faa di Bruno.
The RE D’ITALIA was not fitted out with watertight bulwarks, and that was the reason she capsized almost immediately.
Mali 1996 250fr sg?, scott830f
Croatia 2016 7.60 HKR sgMS?, scott? (She is the sinking ship in the foreground.)
Slovenia 2016 0.60 Euro sgMS?, scott?
Source: http://digilander.libero.it/carandin/reditalia.htm and various other web-sites.