 She was laid down at the naval shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia on 6 June 1909, launched on 20 August 1910, and completed on 15 January 1913.The ship was used to evaluate Curtiss floatplanes in 1913–14.When Italy entered World War I in May 1915, "Dante Alighieri" was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron based at Taranto and remained with the squadron through 1916.