italian cruiser italian cruiser ship class armored cruisers built decade 20th century commissioned ship badly damaged ran aground start italo turkish war repaired end world war activities limited threat austro hungarian submarines ship participate bombardment albania late acted royal yacht crown prince tour south_america deployed indian_ocean support operations italian served training ship rebuilt better serve role reconstruction received modern anti aircraft suite augmented transferred bolster defences shortly italy declared war allies forced early allies moved occupy port wreck repair ship british salvaged sank tow italy broken design description ships class designed improved versions class design length perpendiculars metres overall length metres beam metres draught metres ship displaced tonnes long tons normal load tonnes long tons deep load complement officers enlisted men ship powered pair vertical triple expansion steam engines driving propeller shaft steam supplied mixed firing boilers designed maximum output shaft horsepower speed knots mph exceeded reaching speed knots mph sea trials ihp ship cruising range nautical miles speed knots mph main armament san class ships consisted guns twin gun turrets fore aft superstructure ships mounted twin gun turrets amidships secondary armament defense torpedo boats carried quick firing caliber guns mounted sides hull rest superstructure ships fitted pair caliber guns equipped submerged torpedo tubes world war guns replaced anti aircraft guns torpedo tube removed ships protected armoured belt thick amidships reduced bow stern armoured deck thick conning tower armour thick gun turrets protected armour turrets construction career named patron saint genoa ordered august laid january ship launched july completed july ran aground reef august badly damaged estimated tonnes long tons water flooded boiler rooms magazines lower compartments ship guns turrets conning tower armour removed repair outbreak italo turkish war september rejoined fleet june february ship cruised port visit greece month ship ran aground november lightly damaged captain dismissed result incident based italy declared war night bombarded italian coast attempt disrupt italian targets hardest hit town gas electric telephone service city coal oil left flames austrian ships safely returned port putting pressure regia marina stop attacks austrians resumed italian coast mid june admiral responded sending armored cruisers navy newest venice supplement older ships shortly arrival venice sunk submarine july loss severely restricted activities ships based venice participated bombardment october sank damaged relieved scout cruiser flagship july istanbul turkey later served far_east china conducted crown prince tour south_america ship departed naples july outbreak second revolt brazil following day forced ships divert argentina arrived buenos_aires august days later government hosted military parade honor included detachment sailors visited chile departing september bound brazil ship sailed home september return assigned red_sea del supporting operations italian ship based training ship naval cadets sent spain spanish civil war began protect italian interests reconstructed serve dedicated training ship naval cadets boilers removed remaining converted burn fuel oil reduced speed knots mph pair funnels guns replaced caliber guns twin turrets abreast funnels torpedo tubes removed received light suite time addition caliber guns single mounts dozen twin mounts machine guns twin mounts prior sent reinforce defences early fifth gun turret added forecastle twin machine gun mounts added better suit new role floating battery days italy declared war britain june british launched sea land attack british naval force including light cruisers gloucester liverpool bombarded port engaged suffered damage bombers squadrons attacked striking bomb june british submarine fired torpedoes detonated hitting ship principal role supplement anti aircraft defences fired australian forces attacking january british australian troops entering scuttled shallow water morning january placing demolition charges magazines ship awarded gold medal military actions defence hulk commissioned british march hms san use repair ship rest war wreck refloated sank route italy
Italian cruiser San Giorgio