Giuseppe Garibaldi class cruiser
Encyclopedia
The Giuseppe Garibaldi class were a group of armoured cruisers built in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
at the end of the nineteenth century. Ten ships were built for both the Regia Marina
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
and for export.
Design and history
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
firm of Gio. Ansaldo & C.
Gio. Ansaldo & C.
Ansaldo was one of Italy's oldest and most important engineering companies, existing for 140 years from 1853 to 1993.-From foundation to World War I:...
, which was hoping to profit from the need for the world's navies to modernize towards heavily armoured steam warships.
Designed by Edoardo Masdea, the Garibaldi-class cruiser was a hybrid between a cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
and a battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
. With a maximum speed of 20 knots (39 km/h) the design was slightly slower than contemporary cruisers, but was both heavily armed and armoured, in a package with very low displacement and moderate dimensions.
The design was so popular that between 1894 and 1902 ten cruisers were purchased by four different countries; the first five by the Italian Navy
Italian Navy
Italian Navy may refer to:* Pre-unitarian navies of the Italian states* Regia Marina, the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Italy * Italian Navy , the navy of the Italian Republic...
, four by the Argentine Navy
Argentine Navy
The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....
and one by the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
. According to Brassey's Naval Annual
Brassey's Naval Annual
The Naval Annual was a book that sought to bring together a large amount of information on naval subjects, which had hitherto been obtainable only by consulting numerous publications and chiefly from foreign sources...
, Spain was planning to acquire a second "Garibaldi"-class cruiser, to be named Pedro de Aragon. These plans were shelved after the Spanish-American War and the subsequent downsizing of the Spanish Armada.
Two of the Italian ships ordered in 1902 were sold to the Argentine Navy before completion as the Mitre and Roca; they were renamed as the Rivadavia and the Mariano Moreno. The Argentines in turn sold them to the Imperial Japanese Navy before final completion in 1904, and they were renamed the and
The class was unusual in that they did not have a uniform main armament. Some had single 10 inches (254 mm) guns in gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s fore and aft; others (including the Kasuga) had a mixed armament of a single 10 inches (254 mm) gun in one turret and another turret with twin 8 inches (203 mm) guns. A third variation (including the Nisshin) was a uniform armament of four 8 inches (203 mm) guns, twin gun turrets fore and aft.
Ships
All ships were built by Ansaldo in GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, except ARA San Martin and ARA Belgrano which were subcontracted to Orlando of Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
| Navy | Ship | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Garibaldi ARA Garibaldi ARA Garibaldi was the lead ship of her class of armoured cruiser for the Argentine Navy. The ship was built in Italy and is considered part of the Italian . The ship was launched on 27 May 1895 and served the Argentine Navy until she was stricken on 20 March 1934.- Further reading : Burzaco,... |
27 May 1895 | Decommissioned 20 March 1934 |
| Argentina | General Belgrano ARA General Belgrano (1896) ARA General Belgrano was a Garibaldi-class armoured cruiser of the Argentine Navy. The ship was built in Italy, along with three sisters ships for the Argentine Navy and is considered part of the Italian... |
1896 | Decommissioned 8 May 1947 |
| Argentina | Pueyrredón ARA Pueyrredón ARA Pueyrredón was a Garibaldi-class armoured cruiser of the Argentine Navy. The ship was built in Italy and is considered part of the Italian . The ship was launched on 27 July 1898 and served the Argentine Navy until she was stricken on 2 August 1954.... |
25 July 1898 | Decommissioned 2 August 1954 |
| Argentina | San Martín ARA San Martín ARA San Martín was a Garibaldi-class armoured cruiser of the Argentine Navy. The ship was built in Italy and is considered part of the Italian . The ship was launched on 25 May 1896 and served the Argentine Navy until she was stricken on 18 December 1935.- Further reading : Burzaco, Ricardo.... |
1896 | Decommissioned 18 December 1935 |
| Italy | Francesco Ferruccio Italian cruiser Francesco Ferruccio Francesco Ferruccio was a of Italy's Regia Marina. The ship was launched on 23 April 1902 and served the Regia Marina until she was stricken on 1 April 1930.... |
23 April 1902 | Decommissioned 1 April 1930 |
| Italy | Giuseppe Garibaldi Italian cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi (1899) Giuseppe Garibaldi was the lead ship of her class of armoured cruisers for Italy's Regia Marina. The ship was launched on 29 June 1899 and served the Regia Marina until she was sunk by torpedoes from Austro-Hungarian Navy submarine on 18 July 1915, with loss of 57 lives.Garibaldis wreck is located... |
29 June 1899 | Sunk 18 July 1915 by Austro-Hungarian submarine SM U-4 SM U-4 (Austria-Hungary) SM U-4 or U-IV was a U-3-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during the First World War... |
| Italy | Varese Italian cruiser Varese Varese was a of Italy's Regia Marina. The ship was launched on 6 August 1899 and served the Regia Marina until she was stricken on 4 January 1923.... |
23 April 1902 | Decommissioned 4 January 1923 |
| Japan | Kasuga Japanese cruiser Kasuga was the lead ship of the armored cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed and built by Ansaldo Yards, Genoa, Italy, where the type was known as the... |
22 October 1902 | Disarmed 1920s, sunk by bombing 18 July 1945 |
| Japan | Nishin | 9 February 1903 | Disarmed 1920s, scuttled 1936 Later raised and expended as a target ship, sunk by Yamato Japanese battleship Yamato , named after the ancient Japanese Yamato Province, was the lead ship of the Yamato class of battleships that served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing... on 18 January 1942 |
| Spain | Cristobal Colon Spanish cruiser Cristobal Colon Cristóbal Colón was a Giuseppe Garibaldi-class armored cruiser of the Spanish Navy that fought at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.-Technical Characteristics:... |
September 1896 | Sunk 3 July 1898 by US Navy during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba Battle of Santiago de Cuba The Battle of Santiago de Cuba, fought between Spain and the United States on 3 July 1898, was the largest naval engagement of the Spanish-American War and resulted in the destruction of the Spanish Navy's Caribbean Squadron.-Spanish Fleet:... |
| Spain | Pedro de Aragon | N/A | Cancelled, never built |