Italian battleship Regina Margherita

Regina Margherita ca. 1908.
Career (Italy)
Name:	Regina Margherita
Namesake:	Margherita of Savoy
Builder:	La Spezia Naval Shipyard
Laid down:	20 November 1898
Launched:	30 May 1901
Completed:	14 April 1904
Fate:	Sunk by mines 11 December 1916
General characteristics
Type:	Regina Margherita-class pre-dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	13,215 long tons (13,427 t) (standard) 14,093 long tons (14,319 t) (full load)
Length:	138.65 m (454 ft 11 in)
Beam:	23.84 m (78 ft 3 in)
Draft:	9 m (29 ft 6 in)
Installed power:	21,790 ihp (16,249 kW)
Propulsion:	2 shafts, triple expansion steam engines, 28 boilers
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range:	10,000 nmi (18,520 km; 11,508 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	812/900
Armament:	2 × 2 - 305 mm (12 in)/40 guns 4 × 1 - 203 mm (8 in)/40 guns 12 × 1 - 152 mm (6 in)/40 guns 20 × 1 - 76 mm (3 in)/40 guns 2 × 1 - 47 mm (1.9 in)/40 guns 2 × 1 - 37 mm (1.5 in)/40 guns 4 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Harvey armor Belt and side: 6 in (152 mm) Deck: 3.1 in (78.7 mm) Turrets: 8 in (203 mm) Conning tower: 6 in (152 mm) Casemates: 6 in (152 mm)

Regina Margherita was a Regina Margherita-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Italian Regia Marina between 1898 and 1904.

Service

Regina Margherita was launched at La Spezia 30 May 1901 in the presence of King Victor Emmanuel, and completed three years later. She was the flagship of the Italian Mediterranean Fleet until 1910. An explosion during repair works in 1911 meant she did not take part in the first phases of the Italo-Turkish War. In 1912 she was in the Aegean Sea, together with Benedetto Brin.

On the night of 11–12 December 1916, while sailing from the port of Valona in heavy sea conditions, she struck two mines laid by the German submarine SM UC-14 and blew up. There were 270 survivors and 675 men perished.

References

• Faccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-010-5 . 
• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1860-1905. Annapolis: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5. 
• Hocking, Charles (1990). Dictionary of Disasters at Sea During The Age of Steam. London: The London Stamp Exchange. ISBN 0-948130-68-7.