.jpg) Principe di Carignano in Naples in 1867
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Principe di Carignano class |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  Regia Marina |
| Preceded by | Formidabile class |
| Succeeded by | Re d'Italia class |
| Built | 1861–1871 |
| In commission | 1865–1880 |
| Completed | 3 |
| Retired | 3 |
| General characteristics [a] | |
| Type | Ironclad warship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 72.89 m (239 ft 2 in) |
| Beam | 15.10 m (49 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 7.18 m (23 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 10.4 knots (19.3 km/h; 12.0 mph) |
| Range | 1,200 nmi (2,200 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 572 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | Belt armor: 121 mm (4.75 in) |
The Principe di Carignano class was a group of three ironclad warships built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1860s. The class comprised the ships Principe di Carignano, Messina, and Conte Verde. Originally ordered as wooden frigates, they were the first ironclads to be built in Italy, but the inexperience of the Italian shipyards and the redesign process produced lengthy construction times, such that only the lead ship was completed in time to see action during the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. The first two ships were protected by a complete belt of wrought iron plating that was 121 mm (4.75 in) thick, while Conte Verde only received a partial iron belt.
Principe di Carignano took part in the Battle of Lissa on 20 July 1866, where she led the Italian line of battle, but was not heavily engaged. Rendered obsolescent by the advent of central battery and turret ships in the 1870s, the three Principe di Carignano-class ships did not have particularly long or active service lives. In an effort to reduce the maintenance budget to offset the cost of newer ships under construction, Principe di Carignano was stricken from the naval register in 1875; Messina and Conte Verde followed in 1880, the latter just nine years after completion.
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