.JPG) Libia
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Calabria |
| Succeeded by | Quarto |
| History | |
 Ottoman Empire | |
| Name | Drama |
| Namesake | Sanjak of Drama |
| Ordered | 1907 |
| Builder | Gio. Ansaldo & C., Genoa |
| Laid down | 1907 |
| Fate | Seized in September 1911 by the Kingdom of Italy |
 Italy | |
| Name | Libia |
| Namesake | Colony of Libia |
| Launched | 11 November 1912 |
| Commissioned | 25 March 1913 |
| Stricken | 11 March 1937 |
| Fate | Sold for scrapping, 1937 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 14.5 m (47 ft 7 in) |
| Draft | 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 22.9 knots (42.4 km/h; 26.4 mph) |
| Range | 3,150 nmi (5,830 km; 3,620 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
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Libia was a protected cruiser built in Italy in the 1900s. The ship had originally been laid down in 1907 for the Ottoman Navy and was to have been named Drama, and was based on the Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye. She had not been completed by the outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War in 1911 and so she was seized by the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) and was completed in 1913. The ship was armed with two 152 mm (6 in) and eight 120 mm (4.7 in) guns, and was capable of a top speed of over 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph).
Libia had a relatively uneventful career. Before Italy's entry into World War I, she was involved in the evacuation of Prince William, the ruler of Albania, from Durazzo in late 1914. Following Italy's declaration of war in May 1915, Libia patrolled the Otranto Barrage but did not see action. In 1921–1922, she went on a world tour, during which she was featured in a short documentary produced by the then-unknown Frank Capra. In 1925 she was deployed to China, where she remained for nearly a decade. In 1937, the old cruiser was stricken from the naval register and sold for scrap.