class ironclad class class ironclad battleships built italian regia marina royal_navy late 19th century ships improved versions earlier class battleships primary improvements new breech loading guns better armor protection powerful machinery ships designed marked temporary diversion ideas designed preceding classes following class construction ships lengthy time completed pre dreadnought battleships built rendered new ships limited careers spent time service alternating primarily occupied conducting training exercises ships removed service expended target ship floating oil tank converted depot ship world war returned service guard ship oil storage war eventually broken survived sunk bombers world war wreck salvaged design starting 1870s following italian fleet defeat battle italians began large naval expansion program initially aimed austro hungarian navy program included classes designed authorized naval program task designing assigned engineering inspector vice admiral opposed large ironclads designed charged creating ship exceed metric tons long tons short tons chose base new design cut version incorporated improvements including modern breech loading guns powerful propulsion system new effective compound armor tenure designer italian capital ships short lived returning create follow class final members second generation italian ironclads general characteristics machinery ships class meters long perpendiculars meters long overall beam draft displaced metric tons long tons normally long tons load ships built high forecastle improve sea keeping class single military mast fighting tops located amidships hurricane deck connected forward aft superstructure sections superstructure store smaller boats section large crane handle boats ships crew officers men propulsion system consisted pair compound steam engines driving single screw propeller steam supplied coal fired cylindrical fire tube boilers boilers funnels forward superstructure aft superstructure fastest member class reaching speed knots mph indicated horsepower speed mph ships steam nautical miles speed knots mph armament armor armed main battery caliber rifled guns mounted pairs central barbette guns model fired pound shell muzzle velocity feet second rate fire slow taking minutes shot carried secondary battery caliber guns bow stern caliber guns gun fired variety shells including armor piercing shells guns fired shells ships secondary battery significantly expanded guns caliber guns guns revolver cannon machine guns customary capital ships period carried torpedo tubes submerged hull torpedoes carried range ships protection scheme consisted compound armor armored belt thick citadel received thickness steel armored deck thick conning tower armored steel plate barbette steel armor construction ships construction times lengthy time completed united_kingdom begun building royal sovereign class battleships pre dreadnought battleships rendered older ironclad battleships addition technological progress particularly armor production techniques harvey armor krupp armor contributed ships rapid service history served years careers transferred remained year joined major cruise britain germany ships assigned year took naval review included french british squadron ships transferred quickly discarded decided remained service expended target ship torpedo experiments september converted floating oil tank renamed sunk air raid world war served depot ship italy entered world war employed guard ship war converted oil tank broken scrap
Ruggiero di Lauria-class ironclad