Italian ironclad Ruggiero di Lauria

Ruggiero di Lauria was an Italian battleship launched in 1884. She was the lead ship of the of ironclad battleships, and served in the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was named after the medieval Sicilian admiral Ruggiero di Lauria (Roger of Lauria).

Design
Eng Insp Giuseppe Micheli designed the Ruggiero di Lauria-class ships. He chose essentially to repeat the design; he did, however, improve on the Caio Duilio class by giving the Ruggiero di Lauria-class ships breech-loading 17 in guns (the Caio Duilio class had been armed with 17.7 in muzzle loaders) mounted in barbettes rather than turrets, a high forecastle, a better quality of armor, and a better distribution of armor. The main battery was mounted in twin mounts close together en echelon amidships, with the port barbette aft of the starboard one.

Ruggiero di Lauria had the most powerful propulsion machinery of the three ships of her class and was about a knot faster than them. In 1900, additions were made to her tertiary armament.

Construction
Ruggiero di Lauria was under construction for six and a half years. She was laid down at Castellammare Naval Shipyard on 3 August 1881 and launched on 9 August 1884. She was not completed for another three and a half years, her construction finally being finished on 1 February 1888. Because of the rapid pace of naval technological development in the late 19th century, her lengthy construction period meant that she was an obsolete design by the time she entered service.

Operational history
After a fairly short operational life, Ruggiero di Lauria was stricken on 11 November 1909. She then served as the floating oil tank GM45 at La Spezia until 1943, when she was sunk in shallow water in an air raid during World War II. Her wreck was scrapped in 1946–1947.