Regina Margherita class

Regina Margherita class
The Benedetto Brin
Overview
Type	Ship of the line
units	2
Shipyard	La Spezia and Castellammare di Stabia
Keel laying	1898
Launch	1901
Commissioning	1904/1905
Whereabouts	Sunk in 1915 and 1916
Technical specifications
displacement	13,427 t, max. 14,300 t
length	138.65 m over everything
width	23.84 m
Draft	8.81 m
crew	797 men
drive	28 boilers, 2 triple expansion machines 20,000 hp , 2 screws
speed	20 kn
Armament	• 4 × 305 mm cannons • 4 × 203 mm cannons • 12 × 152 mm cannons • 20 × 76 mm cannons • 2 × 47 mm cannons • 2 × 37 mm cannons • 4 × 45 cm torpedo tubes
Armor	Harvey system
Armored deck	80 mm
Belt armor	150 mm
artillery	up to 200 mm
Command post	150 mm
Ships	RN Regina Margherita RN Benedetto Brin

The Regina Margherita class was a two -ship class of ships of the line of the Italian Navy . Regina Margherita and her sister ship Benedetto Brin were commissioned in 1898, launched in 1901 and entered service in 1904 and 1905 respectively. The class was developed by the Italian admiral Benedetto Brin . Both ships took part in the Italo-Turkish War (1911/1912) and the First World War. Although neither ship was involved in a sea battle, they were lost in the World War with considerable casualties.

technical description

The Regina Margherita class of the Regia Marina was a typical construction of its time for which the Italian Minister of the Navy Benedetto Brin (1833–1898) was responsible. In addition to an obligatory bulbous bow, which was reminiscent of the use of ram spurs , a relatively strong main armament was provided.
The ships had 28 boilers and two triple expansion engines with a relatively strong output of 20,000 PSi, which transmitted their power to two propellers. The arrangement of the chimneys was unusual. There were three in total, the two in front not being placed one behind the other, but side by side. The armored bridge was in a raised structure in front of the chimneys.

Armament

The main armament consisted of four 305 mm L / 40 guns of the Elswick type in two twin turrets. One was at the bow, the other at the stern. The ships of the Regina Margherita class were among the ships that also received reinforced medium artillery. This also consisted of four 203 mm L / 45 Elswick guns, which were placed in casemates above the 152 mm battery at the corners of the superstructure. There were also twelve 152 mm L / 40 Elswick guns in the internationally customary casemate arrangement along the hull at the height of the superstructure. Twenty 76 mm guns for anti-torpedo boats were set up on the decks. Four torpedo tubes completed the armament. All in all, this appears to be considerable firepower for ships of the time, but had the disadvantage that much larger ammunition bunkers would have been necessary for so many different ammunition. A circumstance that is said to have caused difficulties for both ships more than once during their service life.

The armor was relatively thin in all areas and the Harvey type steel was no longer the most modern armored steel quality. It was insufficient for an artillery battle with other ships of the line with the same main artillery. They would have penetrated 305 mm bullets from a great distance.
But the ships were relatively fast. They can therefore be regarded as the forerunners of the battlecruisers .

Fate of the ships

The RN Regina Margherita named after Queen Margarethe (1851-1926) was started on November 20, 1898 at the naval shipyard in La Spezia , launched on May 30, 1901 and put into service on April 14, 1904. From 1904 to 1910 she was the fleet flagship. RN Regina Margherita sank on December 11, 1916 near Brindisi in a storm through a mine laid by the German submarine UC 14 . 674 people died.

Benedetto Brin , named after the naval master of many years and ship designer , was started on January 30, 1899 at the naval shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia , launched on November 7, 1901 and put into service on September 1, 1905.
The Benedetto Brin sank on September 27, 1915, probably due to sabotage in the port of Taranto . 387 men died. It was scrapped on site.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 12 "/ 40 (30.5 cm)
2. ↑ 8 "/ 45 (20.3 cm) EOC Pattern" W "
3. ↑ in 6 "/ 40 (15.2 cm) QF Marks I, II and III
4. ↑ U-boot.net Chronicle of the operations of German submarines ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Gino Galuppini: Encyclopedia of warships . Weltbildverlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89350-828-7 , p. 70.

literature

• Aldo Faccaroli: Italian Warships of World War I. Ian Allan, London 1970, ISBN 0-7110-0105-7 .
• Gino Galuppini: Encyclopedia of Warships . Weltbildverlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89350-828-7 .
• Robert Gardiner (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 1985, ISBN 0-87021-907-3 .