Italian cruiser Piemonte

Italian cruiser Piemonte

Industry	Shipbuilding
Founded	1887 (1887)
Founder	Armstrong Whitworth
Defunct	1920 (1920)
Fate	Dismantled
Headquarters	Elswick , United Kingdom
Area served	Italy
Key people	Philips Watts (naval architect)
Products	Warships, specifically protected cruisers
Owner	Armstrong Whitworth

Piemonte was a one-of-a-kind protected cruiser constructed in the 1880s by the British shipbuilder Armstrong Whitworth specifically for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy). Notably, she was the first significant warship outfitted exclusively with quick-firing (QF) artillery, and upon her completion in 1889, she held the distinction of being the fastest cruiser worldwide. Piemonte frequently operated abroad, including an extended deployment in East Asian waters from 1901 until 1904. She played an active role in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912 within the Red Sea, where she regularly shelled Ottoman harbors. During the January 1912 Battle of Kunfuda Bay, she, alongside two destroyers, succeeded in sinking four Ottoman gunboats and drove three additional vessels ashore. Although Piemonte was part of the Italian fleet during World War I, her involvement in combat was minimal. She remained operational until 1920, at which point she was dismantled.

Design

The first project undertaken by naval architect Philips Watts at Armstrong Whitworth resulted in Piemonte, conceived as an enhanced iteration of the Italian cruiser Dogali. Constructed initially on speculation, Italy acquired her on 30 July 1888 with a delivery deadline of six months. Originally, her armament plan featured two 8-inch (203 mm) and four 6-inch (152 mm) breech-loading guns; however, Italian requirements led to her being equipped with six 6-inch QF guns instead. The modifications to the magazines and the installation of substantial sponsons to house these quick-firing weapons caused considerable delays in her final completion. Piemonte pioneered the use of medium-caliber quick-firing artillery on a major warship—a feature that would become standard for cruisers throughout the 1890s.

General characteristics

Line-drawing of Piemonte

The Piemonte measured approximately 310 feet (94.5 m) in length between perpendiculars, with a beam spanning 38 feet (11.6 m). Her average draft was around 15 feet (4.6 m), and she displaced roughly 2,473 long tons (2,513 t). The vessel's complement included 12 officers alongside 245 enlisted personnel. Equipped with two robust military masts, Piemonte featured a partial double bottom. The extensive sponsons descended to nearly one foot (305 mm) above the waterline, which resulted in notably wet conditions during operations. Despite her size, she carried relatively heavy armament, and her freeboard measured only 8 feet 3 inches (2.51 m) under normal load and decreased to 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) when fully loaded.

Propulsion was provided by a pair of 4-cylinder Humphrys, Tennant vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each linked to its own propeller shaft. These engines had a stroke length of 27 inches (690 mm) and cylinder bores measuring 36 inches (910 mm), 55 inches (1,400 mm), and 60 inches (1,500 mm) respectively. Notably, the low-pressure cylinder was divided into two sections to ensure smoother operation—making Piemonte the first warship to incorporate this design feature. Four double-ended Scotch marine boilers generated steam at a pressure of 155 pounds per square inch (1,069 kPa; 11 kgf/cm²), exhausting through two funnels positioned amidships. While the engines were designed to deliver up to 12,000 indicated horsepower (8,900 kW), they produced 7,040 indicated horsepower (5,250 kW) on natural draught, enabling the ship to reach speeds of 20.4 knots (37.8 km/h; 23.5 mph) during sea trials conducted in May 1889. When utilizing forced draught, power output increased to 12,600 indicated horsepower (9,400 kW), pushing her speed to 22.3 knots (41.3 km/h; 25.7 mph), which made her the fastest cruiser worldwide at that time. The vessel typically carried about 200 long tons (200 t) of coal but had a maximum capacity of 600 long tons (610 t). At an economical speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), she could cover approximately 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km; 8,100 mi), while at full speed her range was around 1,950 nautical miles (3,610 km; 2,240 mi).

Armament

Piemonte was outfitted with a main battery consisting of six single-mounted 6-inch L/40 guns. One gun was positioned forward, another aft, and two were located on each side amidships adjacent to the masts. These weapons were installed in sponsons, allowing for firing directly ahead and astern. Complementing these were six single-mounted mines of approximately 4.7 inches L/40 guns, arranged with three on each side between the larger main guns. The light armament included ten 57 minutes (3,400 s) QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss L/40 guns, six smaller 37 minutes (2,200 s) Hotchkiss gun 1-pounder L/20 guns, and four Maxim gun machine guns with a caliber of about 10 min (600 s). The military masts housed four of the 1-pounder guns as well as all machine guns. Additionally, the ship carried three above-water torpedo tubes measuring approximately 14 inches (360 mm), with one mounted at the bow and two on rotating mounts along the broadside.

Protection included an armored deck that sloped from sides to centerline; its thickness varied from about one inch on the flat central portion up to between two and three inches on the angled sections. The conning tower was shielded by steel plating three inches thick, while gun shields provided armor roughly four and a half inches thick for both main and secondary artillery pieces.

Service history

Piemonte operating at full speed in her original design

The cruiser Piemonte was constructed by the British shipbuilder Armstrong Whitworth located in Elswick. Her keel was laid in 1887, followed by her launch on 23 August 1888. After undergoing fitting-out procedures, the vessel was completed and handed over to the Regia Marina on 8 September 1889. In the year 1890, Piemonte took part in the annual fleet exercises as a member of the First Squadron alongside the ironclad Lepanto, Dogali, and several torpedo boats. These maneuvers occurred in the Tyrrhenian Sea, where the First Squadron's role was to defend against an attacking "hostile" force. By 1891, the Italian Navy decided that Piemonte's original armament was excessively heavy; consequently, the four broadside-mounted 6-inch guns were substituted with lighter 4.7-inch guns and their sponsons were removed. Additionally, her robust military masts were replaced with lighter pole masts. Over subsequent years, the ship operated not only in the Mediterranean but also patrolled the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. In mid-1896, following attacks on Italians in Brazil, the Italian government deployed Piemonte to protect Italian nationals' interests there. This demonstration of gunboat diplomacy resulted in a formal apology from Brazil and an agreement to resolve Italian claims for damages through arbitration involving representatives from the United States and Germany.

After undergoing a modernization lasting approximately one year, Piemonte was dispatched to the East Asian station in late 1901. Her journey to Asian waters included transiting the Suez Canal, crossing the Red Sea, and stopping for coal resupply at British-controlled Aden. By September 1902, she was docked in Nagasaki, Japan, alongside the Italian cruiser Lombardia. At Weihaiwei, a British colony at that time, Piemonte encountered the British cruiser HMS Talbot, with officers and crew from Piemonte visiting the British vessel on 28 July. During this period, she was joined by the armored cruiser Vettor Pisani and protected cruiser Elba. The following year saw plans for replacement by the armored cruiser Marco Polo and protected cruiser Puglia, but due to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War on 8 February 1904, Piemonte remained stationed in Asia. On 24 February, she arrived at Seoul and deployed infantry troops to reinforce security at the Italian embassy. The ship was eventually recalled to Italy in April, pausing for coal in Singapore on 22 April before departing two days later for homeward transit.

By 1908, Piemonte served as flagship of the main fleet’s torpedo flotilla, which included seventeen destroyers along with fifty first- and second-class torpedo boats. That August, she took part in that year’s summer fleet exercises where she was assigned to a squadron tasked with defending against an opposing fleet attempting an amphibious landing. These maneuvers simulated a potential conflict with Italy's nominal ally Austria-Hungary, with both squadrons’ relative strengths closely reflecting those of their respective navies—a fact noted by observers in Vienna. The exercises culminated with a fleet review held on 18 October. In 1909, Piemonte returned once more to deployment in East Asia.

Italo-Turkish War

Map of the Red Sea, where Piemonte was active during the conflict

At the start of the Italo-Turkish War in September 1911, Piemonte was deployed in the Red Sea alongside four other cruisers. By December, she and her consorts were tasked with patrolling Ottoman ports along the Red Sea coast to intercept any vessels suspected of ferrying an alleged invasion force to Italian Eritrea. A temporary pause in hostilities occurred while British King George V transited the Red Sea after his coronation in India—this ceasefire lasted until 26 November.

In early 1912, the Italian naval forces in the Red Sea sought a squadron of seven Ottoman gunboats rumored to be preparing an assault on Eritrea; however, these vessels were immobilized due to coal shortages. Piemonte, along with the destroyers Artigliere and Garibaldino, conducted searches for these gunboats while cruisers Calabria and Puglia executed diversionary shelling operations against Jebl Tahr and Al Luḩayyah. On 7 January, the Italian squadron located the Ottoman vessels and swiftly sank four during the Battle of Kunfuda Bay, forcing the remaining three to run aground to avoid sinking. The following day, Italian forces dispatched a landing party to destroy the stranded gunboats.

Following these actions, Piemonte and her fleet resumed bombardments on Turkish ports in the Red Sea before imposing a blockade on the city of Al Hudaydah on 26 January. During a bombardment of the port at Djebana, Piemonte inadvertently damaged a railroad under construction by a French company, which led to a lawsuit against the Italian government seeking 200,000 lire in damages. By April, Piemonte had assumed command as flagship of the Italian squadron operating in this theater. On both 27 July and 12 August, Piemonte, accompanied by the torpedo cruisers Caprera and Aretusa, carried out two bombardments of Al Hudaydah; during the second attack, they destroyed an Ottoman ammunition depot. Subsequently, Piemonte departed from the Red Sea with four destroyers. The conflict concluded with an Ottoman surrender in October.

Later career

In 1912, then-Lieutenant Alessandro Guidoni proposed converting Piemonte into an aircraft carrier capable of launching both seaplanes and wheeled aircraft. His design featured an inclined flight deck positioned over the aft section of the vessel, elevated enough to clear the funnels. However, as the Regia Marina showed no interest in operating wheeled aircraft at sea, this plan was abandoned. In 1913, two remaining 6-inch guns aboard Piemonte were replaced with lighter 4.7-inch guns as part of ongoing efforts to reduce displacement.

When Italy entered World War I on 23 May 1915, Piemonte was stationed at Brindisi within the Second Fleet, which included pre-dreadnought battleships such as Regina Elena and Regina Margherita-class, alongside armored cruisers like Pisa and San Giorgio-class. The main adversary throughout the war was the Austro-Hungarian Navy; Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, Naval Chief of Staff, implemented a strategy focusing on distant blockade using battleships while smaller craft like MAS boats undertook offensive raids. The intention was to conserve heavy units for a decisive engagement should the enemy fleet emerge from harbor. Consequently, Piemonte saw limited action during this period and spent much time stationed at Salonica, Greece as part of the Anglo-French Levant Squadron. Plans to repurpose her for torpedo experimentation post-war never materialized; she was officially removed from the Navy List on 15 May 1920 and dismantled shortly thereafter.

References

• Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War: September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute. OCLC 1408563.
• Brassey, Thomas A. (1904). "Chapter IV: Comparative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 86–107. OCLC 5973345.
• Brassey, Thomas A. (1908). "Chapter III: Comparative Strength". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin & Co.: 48–57. OCLC 5973345.
• Brook, Peter (2003). "Armstrongs and the Italian Navy". In Preston, Antony (ed.). Warship 2002–2003. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 94–115. ISBN 978-0-85177-926-3.
• Brook, Peter (1999). Warships for Export: Armstrong Warships 1867 - 1927. Gravesend: World Ship Society. ISBN 978-0-905617-89-3.
• Cernuschi, Enrico; O'Hara, Vincent (2007). Jordan, John (ed.). "Search For A Flattop: The Italian Navy and the Aircraft Carrier, 1907–2007". Warship. London: Conway Maritime Press: 61–80. ISBN 978-1-84486-041-8. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |name-list-style=amp

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External links

• Piemonte official page on the Marina Militare website