Italian cruiser San Giorgio

San Giorgio firing her secondary armament in 1912
History
Italy
Name	San Giorgio
Namesake	Saint George
Ordered	3 August 1904
Builder	Regio Cantieri di Castellammare di Stabia, Castellammare di Stabia
Laid down	4 July 1905
Launched	27 July 1908
Completed	1 July 1910
Stricken	18 October 1946
Honours and awards	Gold Medal of Military Valor (Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare)
Fate	Scuttled, 22 January 1941 Sank while under tow, 1952
General characteristics
Class and type	San Giorgio-class armoured cruiser
Displacement	10,167 t (10,006 long tons)
Length	140.89 m (462 ft 3 in) (o/a)
Beam	21.03 m (69 ft 0 in)
Draught	7.35 m (24 ft 1 in)
Installed power	19,500 ihp (14,500 kW) 14 Blechynden boilers
Propulsion	2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range	6,270 nmi (11,610 km; 7,220 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	32 officers, 666–73 enlisted men
Armament	2 twin 254 mm (10.0 in)/45 guns 4 twin 190 mm (7.5 in)/45 guns 18 single 76 mm (3.0 in)/40 guns 2 single 47 mm (1.9 in)/50 guns 3 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes As of May 1940 after refits: 2 twin 254 mm (10.0 in)/45 guns 4 twin 190 mm (7.5 in)/45 guns 4 x 2 100 mm (4 in) / 47 caliber dual purpose guns 1 x 1 100 mm (4 in) / 47 caliber dual purpose gun on the forecastle 6 x 1 Breda 37 mm (1.5 in) AA guns 6 x 2 Breda Model 35 20 mm (0.79 in) AA guns 7 x 2 Breda Model 31 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA machine guns
Armour	Belt: 200 mm (7.9 in) Gun turrets: 160–200 mm (6.3–7.9 in) Deck: 50 mm (2.0 in) Conning tower: 254 mm (10.0 in)

The Italian cruiser San Giorgio was the name ship of her class of two armored cruisers built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) in the first decade of the 20th century. Commissioned in 1910, the ship was badly damaged when she ran aground before the start of the Italo-Turkish War in 1911, although she was repaired before its end. During World War I, San Giorgio's activities were limited by the threat of Austro-Hungarian submarines, although the ship did participate in the bombardment of Durazzo, Albania, in late 1918.

She acted as a royal yacht for Crown Prince Umberto's 1924 tour of South America and then deployed to the Indian Ocean to support operations in Italian Somaliland in 1925–1926. San Giorgio served as a training ship from 1930 to 1935 and was then rebuilt in 1937–1938 to better serve in that role. As part of her reconstruction, she received a modern anti-aircraft suite that was augmented before she was transferred to bolster the defences of Tobruk shortly before Italy declared war on the Allies in mid-1940. San Giorgio was forced to scuttle herself in early 1941 as the Allies moved in to occupy the port. Her wreck was used as an immobile repair ship by the British from 1943 through 1945. Salvaged in 1952, she sank while under tow to Italy to be broken up.