 Re Umberto at Brindisi in 1917
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Italy | |
| Name | Re Umberto |
| Namesake | Umberto I of Italy |
| Builder | Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia |
| Laid down | 10 July 1884 |
| Launched | 17 October 1888 |
| Completed | 16 February 1893 |
| Stricken | 10 May 1914 |
| Reinstated | 9 December 1915 |
| Fate | Stricken 1920 |
| General characteristics Re Umberto | |
| Class and type | Re Umberto-class ironclad battleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 127.6 m (418 ft 7.5 in) |
| Beam | 23.4 m (76 ft 10.5 in) |
| Draft | 9.3 m (30 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) |
| Range | 4,000–6,000 nmi (7,400–11,100 km; 4,600–6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 733 |
| Armament |
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| Armor |
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Re Umberto ("King Humbert") was a Re Umberto-class ironclad battleship built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1880s, the lead ship of her class. She was laid down in July 1884 and launched in October 1888; work proceeded so slowly that she was not finished until February 1893. She was armed with a main battery of four 343 mm (13.5 in) guns and had a top speed of 20.3 knots (37.6 km/h; 23.4 mph), though this high speed came at the cost of armor protection.
Re Umberto carried out various duties during her service career, including large-scale fleet maneuvers and diplomatic missions in Europe. She saw limited action during the Italo-Turkish War in 1911–1912, escorting convoys and bombarding Ottoman troops in North Africa. By the end of the year she was withdrawn from front-line service. Decommissioned before World War I, she was used during the war as a depot ship and then as a floating battery. In 1918 her armament was exchanged for a number of 3-inch (76 mm) guns and trench mortars as part of her role as the lead ship in the planned Italian assault on the main Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola. The war ended before the Italians could carry out the attack and she was stricken again in 1920.