Partenope-class cruiser

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 and had a ram bow. The ships had forecastle that ran the first third of the ships' length, thereafter stepping down to the main deck that extended for the rest of their length. The forward conning tower was erected atop the forecastle, and a smaller, secondary conning tower was located further aft. The ships had a crew that ranged from 96 to 121.[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. They were initially fitted with a fore and aft sailing rig with two masts to supplement the steam engines on longer voyages, but the rigging was later removed.[4]

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]

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]

• 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.