Principe Amedeo-class ironclad

The Principe Amedeo class was a pair of ironclad warships built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1870s and 1880s. The two ships, ITALIAN IRONCLAD Principe Amedeo and ITALIAN IRONCLAD Palestro, were the last Italian ironclads to feature sailing rigs and wooden hulls.

Design
The design for Principe Amedeo was prepared by Inspector Engineer Giuseppe De Luca. He had initially planned on using entirely wooden hulls for the ships, but had changed to composite wood and iron construction by the time the ships were laid down. The two ships were the first ironclads to be built entirely by Italian shipyards.

General characteristics and machinery
The two ships differed slightly in size. Principe Amedeo was 79.73 m long between perpendiculars, while Palestro was 78.82 m long. Principe Amedeo had a beam of 17.4 m and a draft of 7.9 m; Palestro's beam measured 17.3 m, and she had a draft of 8 m. Both ships displaced 5761 MT normally, but Principe Amedeo displaced 6020 MT at full load and Palestro reached 3218 MT. They had a crew of 548 officers and men.

The ships' propulsion system consisted of one single-expansion steam engine that drove a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by six coal-fired, cylindrical fire-tube boilers. The boilers were trunked into a single funnel. The lead ship's engine produced a top speed of 12.2 kn at 6117 ihp, while Palestro made 12.85 kn at the same horsepower. They could steam for 1780 nmi at a speed of 10 kn. The ships were barque-rigged to supplement the steam engine; Principe Amedeo and her sister were the last rigged ironclad to be built by Italy. The ships' sail area were 36738 sqft for Principe Amedeo and 37361 sqft for Palestro.

Armament and armor
Palestro and Principe Amedeo were both armed with a main battery of six 10 in guns, though they were mounted differently in each ship. Principe Amedeo carried hers in a single armored casemate located amidships, while Palestro's guns were mounted in three armored casemates. The first was located forward, toward the bow, the second and third were placed close to the stern on each side of the ship. Both ships also carried a 11 in gun that was mounted forward as a bow chaser. Later in her career, Principe Amedeo received a secondary battery of six 2.9 in guns and six machine guns, along with two torpedo tubes.

The two ships were protected by iron belt armor that was 8.7 in thick and extended for the entire length of the hull. The casemates were protected with 5.5 in of iron plating, and the small conning tower had 2.4 in thick iron plates.