Partenope-class cruiser

The Partenope class was a group of eight torpedo cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1880s and 1890s. The class comprised Partenope, Minerva, Euridice, Urania, Iride, Aretusa, Caprera, and Calatafimi. Based on the earlier cruiser Tripoli, the Partenope class represented a temporary embrace of the Jeune École, which emphasized the use of cheap torpedo-armed vessels as a means to defeat the much more expensive ironclad battleships of the day. To fulfill their intended role, the vessels were armed with five or six 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes.

Partenope c. 1895
Class overview
Operators: Kingdom of Italy
Preceded by: Folgore class
Succeeded by: Agordat class
Built: 1888–1894
In commission: 1890–1921
Completed: 8
Lost: 1
Scrapped: 7
General characteristics
Class and type: Torpedo cruiser
Displacement: Normal: 821 long tons (834 t)
Length: 73.1 m (239 ft 10 in)
Beam: 8.22 m (27 ft)
Draft: 3.48 m (11 ft 5 in)
Propulsion:
Speed: 18.1 to 20.8 knots (33.5 to 38.5 km/h; 20.8 to 23.9 mph)
Complement: 96–121
Armament:
  • 1 × 120 mm (4.7 in) gun
  • 6 × 57 mm (2.2 in) guns
  • 3 × 37 mm (1.5 in) guns
  • 5 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:

The ships of the class primarily served in the main Italian fleet throughout their careers. Their time with the fleet was spent conducting training exercises, along with occasional travels to foreign countries. In late 1900s, Partenope and Minerva were converted into minelayers and Euridice and Calatafimi were sold for scrap. Several of the vessels saw action during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, primarily conducting shore bombardments in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Three more vessels—Urania, Aretusa, and Caprera—were sold in the later stages of the war or shortly thereafter. Partenope laid minefields in the Adriatic Sea after Italy entered World War I in 1915, and was later sunk by a German U-boat in March 1918. Minerva and Iride survived the war and were sold for scrap in 1921 and 1920, respectively.

Design

The design for the Partenope class was prepared by Engineering Inspector Carlo Vigna, and was based on the earlier torpedo cruiser Tripoli, the first modern vessel of the type built by Italy.[1] The development of torpedo cruisers in Italy in the mid-1880s represented a shift away from the emphasis on large capital ships that had been built for the previous decade and toward the ideas of the Jeune École, which emphasized small, fast, torpedo-armed vessels that could damage or destroy the much larger battleships at a fraction of the cost.[2] The Partenope class were followed by the Agordat class, the last class of torpedo cruisers built by Italy.[3]

General characteristics and machinery
Urania shortly after entering service

The ships of the Partenope class were 70 meters (230 ft) long between perpendiculars and 73.1 m (239 ft 10 in) long overall. They had a beam of 8.22 m (27 ft) and an average draft of 3.48 m (11 ft 5 in). They displaced from 821 to 931 long tons (834 to 946 t) normally. Their hulls were steel-built. The ships had a crew of between 96–121. They were initially fitted with a fore and aft sailing rig with two masts, but the rigging was later removed. The ships were protected by an armored deck that was up to 1.6 in (41 mm) thick; their conning tower was armored with the same thickness of steel plate.[4]

Their propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single screw propeller. Steam was supplied by four coal-fired locomotive boilers that were trunked into two widely spaced funnels. Specific figures for each ship's engine performance have not survived, but the ships of the class had top speeds of 18.1 to 20.8 knots (33.5 to 38.5 km/h; 20.8 to 23.9 mph) from 3,884 to 4,422 indicated horsepower (2,896 to 3,297 kW). The ships had a cruising radius of about 1,800 nautical miles (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[4]

Partenope and Minerva were reboilered in 1906–1908 and 1909–1910, respectively, with new oil-fired models. Partenope's performance after the refit was 17.05 knots (31.58 km/h; 19.62 mph) from 2,481 ihp (1,850 kW), while Minerva was faster, at 18.28 knots (33.85 km/h; 21.04 mph) from 3,524 ihp (2,628 kW).[4]

Armament

The Partenope-class cruisers, with the exception of Caprera, were armed with a main battery of one 120 mm (4.7 in) 40-caliber (cal.) gun and six 57 mm (2.2 in) 43-cal. guns mounted singly. They were also equipped with three 37 mm (1.5 in) 20-cal. guns in single mounts. Caprera instead had two 120 mm guns, four 57 mm guns, and two of the 37 mm weapons. The ships' primary offensive weapon was their 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes; Partenope and Caprera had five tubes, while the rest of the class had six.[4]

During their refits in the late 1900s, Partenope and Minerva were converted into minelayers. Their armament was revised significantly, and now consisted of a pair of 3 in (76 mm) guns, four 57 mm guns, and two 37 mm guns.[4] Partenope was equipped to carry sixty naval mines, with a bank of thirty mines on a platform on each side of the ship;[5] the details of Minerva's mine handling equipment and storage are unknown.

Ships
Caprera soon after entering service
Name Builder[4] Laid down[4] Launched[4] Completed[4]
Partenope Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia, Castellammare di Stabia 8 June 1888 23 December 1889 11 September 1890
Minerva Gio. Ansaldo & C., Genoa 1 February 1889 27 February 1892 20 August 1892
Euridice Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia 14 February 1889 22 September 1890 1 May 1891
Urania Cantieri navali Odero, Genoa 16 February 1889 18 June 1891 21 July 1893
Iride Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia 21 February 1889 20 July 1891 1 November 1892
Aretusa Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando, Livorno 1 June 1889 14 March 1891 1 September 1892
Caprera 27 July 1891 6 May 1894 12 December 1895
Calatafimi 15 September 1891 18 March 1893 16 January 1894

Service history
Iride, probably in the late 1890s

For much of the ships' careers, they were assigned to the main Italian fleet, where they were frequently occupied with conducting training exercises. These exercises frequently gamed attacks by the French fleet, such as the maneuvers conducted in 1893, which simulated a French attack on Naples.[6][7][8] In 1895, Partenope joined a squadron that visited Great Britain,[9] and later that year took part in an international naval demonstration off Crete in an attempt to defuse tensions between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.[10] Euridice took part in a similar demonstration, again off Crete, in 1897; this was a reaction to the Greco-Turkish War that had broken out that year.[11] Between 1906 and 1908, Partenope was converted into a minelayer, and Minerva underwent a similar conversion in 1909–1910.[4] Two ships, Calatafimi and Euridice, were discarded in early 1907.[4]

During the Italo-Turkish War, Partenope operated off Libya, bombarding Ottoman troops and supporting Italian forces.[12] Iride escorted a troopship convoy to North Africa and then conducted shore bombardments.[13] Aretusa was stationed in the Red Sea at the outbreak of the war,[14] and she briefly engaged the Ottoman cruiser Peyk-i Şevket.[15] Aretusa, joined by Caprera in early 1912, thereafter participated in bombardment and blockade operations against Ottoman ports in the area.[16] Minerva was assigned to the 4th Division at the time, but did not see action during the war.[17] Three more members of the class were sold for scrap after the end of the war, with Urania and Aretusa being stricken in 1912 and Caprera being discarded in early 1913.[4]

Partenope and Minerva laid a series of defensive minefields in the Adriatic Sea after Italy entered World War I in 1915.[18] They did not see action for much of the rest of the war, owing to the cautious strategies adopted by Italy and its enemy across the Adriatic, Austria-Hungary.[19] On 24 March 1918, the German U-boat UC-67 torpedoed and sank Partenope north of Bizerte, Tunisia.[20] Iride and Minerva survived the war and were discarded in December 1920 and May 1921, respectively.[4]

Notes
  1. Gardiner, pp. 346–347
  2. Sondhaus, p. 149
  3. Gardiner, pp. 347–348
  4. Gardiner, p. 347
  5. Alger, p. 197
  6. "Naval and Military Notes – Italy", p. 567
  7. Clarke & Thursfield, pp. 202–203
  8. Brassey, p. 60
  9. Neal, p. 155
  10. Neal, p. 355
  11. Robinson, p. 187
  12. Beehler, pp. 35, 47–48
  13. Beehler, pp. 65–66, 84
  14. Beehler, p. 11
  15. Stephenson, p. 62
  16. Beehler, p. 51, 90
  17. Beehler, p. 9
  18. O'Hara, Dickson, & Worth, p. 201
  19. Halpern, pp. 141–142
  20. Willmott, p. 426
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References
  • Alger, Philip R. (trans) (1908). "The Employment of Submarine Mines in Future Naval Warfare". Journal of the United States Artillery. Fort Monroe: Coastal Artillery School Press. XXX. OCLC 1962282.
  • Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War: September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute.
  • Brassey, Thomas A., ed. (1903). The Naval Annual (Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.). OCLC: 5973345
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
  • Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-352-4.
  • "Naval Notes – Italy". Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. London: J. J. Keliher. XLVIII: 1428–1431. 1904. OCLC 8007941.
  • Neal, William George, ed. (1896). The Marine Engineer (London: Office for Advertisements and Publication) XVII. OCLC: 2448426
  • O'Hara, Vincent; Dickson, David & Worth, Richard (2013). To Crown the Waves: The Great Navies of the First World War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-61251-082-8.
  • Robinson, Charles N., ed. (1897). The Navy and Army Illustrated. III (32). London: Hudson & Kearns. OCLC 7489254.
  • Sondhaus, Lawrence (2001). Naval Warfare, 1815–1914. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21478-5.
  • Stephenson, Charles (2014). A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911-1912. Ticehurst: Tattered Flag Press. ISBN 9780957689220.
  • Willmott, H. P. (2009). The Last Century of Sea Power (Volume 1, From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894–1922). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-35214-9.
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