Italian cruiser Aretusa

Aretusa in 1895
History
Italy
NameAretusa
NamesakeArethusa
BuilderCantiere navale fratelli Orlando, Livorno
Laid down1 June 1889
Launched14 March 1891
Commissioned1 September 1892
FateDiscarded December 1912
General characteristics
Class and typePartenope-class torpedo cruiser
DisplacementNormal: 833 long tons (846 t)
Length73.1 m (239 ft 10 in)
Beam8.22 m (27 ft)
Draft3.48 m (11 ft 5 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed18.1 to 20.8 knots (33.5 to 38.5 km/h; 20.8 to 23.9 mph)
Range1,800 nautical miles (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement96–121
Armament
Armor

Aretusa was a torpedo cruiser of the Partenope class built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1880s. Laid down in June 1889 at the Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando shipyard, she was launched in March 1891 and was commissioned in September 1892. Her main armament were her six torpedo tubes, which were supported by a battery of ten small-caliber guns. Aretusa spent most of her career in the main Italian fleet, where she was primarily occupied with training exercises. At the start of the Italo-Turkish War in September 1911, she was assigned to the Red Sea Squadron in Italian Eritrea. She bombarded Ottoman positions in the Arabian Peninsula and took part in a blockade of the coast. Worn out by the end of the war in October 1912, Aretusa was sold for scrap that December and broken up.