 Giovanni Bausan
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Etna class |
| Completed | 1 |
| History | |
 Kingdom of Italy | |
| Name | Giovanni Bausan |
| Namesake | Giovanni Bausan |
| Builder | Elswick |
| Laid down | 21 August 1882 |
| Launched | 15 December 1883 |
| Commissioned | 9 May 1885 |
| Decommissioned | 15 January 1920 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 3,082 long tons (3,131 t) |
| Length | 89.32 m (293 ft) loa |
| Beam | 12.85 m (42 ft 2 in) |
| Draft | 5.98 m (19 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 17.4 knots (32.2 km/h; 20.0 mph) |
| Range | 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 295 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | Deck: 0.75–1.5-inch (19–38 mm) |
Giovanni Bausan was a protected cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) that was designed and built by Sir W G Armstrong Mitchell & Co.'s Elswick Works in England in the mid-1880s. The finished ship entered service in May 1885. She was the first ship of this type to be built for the Italian fleet, and she provided the basis for subsequent designs built in Italy, including the Etna class. Giovanni Bausan was intended to serve as a "battleship destroyer", and was armed with a main battery of two 10-inch (254 mm) guns to give her the ability to defeat heavy armor, but design flaws rendered her unfit for this role.
Giovanni Bausan frequently served abroad. She participated in the conquest of Eritrea in 1887–1888 as the flagship of the Italian squadron during the campaign. She took part in the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903 alongside British and German warships. During the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, she provided gunfire support to Italian troops ashore in North Africa. By the outbreak of the First World War, Giovanni Bausan had been relegated to secondary duties, first as a distilling ship, and later as a depot ship for seaplanes. The ship was disarmed during the conflict and ultimately was sold to ship-breakers in March 1920.