Giuseppe Garibaldi-class cruiser

For the 1930s-era light cruisers, see Condottieri-class cruiser and Italian cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi (1936).

The Giuseppe Garibaldi-class cruisers were a class of ten armoured cruisers built in Italy in the 1890s and the first decade of the 20th century. The ships were built for both the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) and for export. The class was named for Italian unifier and nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Kasuga in 1900
Class overview
Name	Giuseppe Garibaldi
Builders	Ansaldo, Genoa-Sestri Ponente, Italy Orlando, Livorno
Operators	Argentine Navy  Regia Marina  Imperial Japanese Navy  Spanish Navy
Preceded by	Vettor Pisani class
Succeeded by	Pisa class
Subclasses	Garibaldi; Giuseppe Garibaldi
Built	1895–1904
In commission	1896–1954
Planned	11
Completed	10
Cancelled	1
Lost	3
Scrapped	7
General characteristics
Type	Armored cruiser
Displacement	6,840 t (6,732 long tons) Garibaldi 7,400–7,700 t (7,283–7,578 long tons) Giuseppe Garibaldi
Length	108.8 m (356 ft 11 in) w/l 111.73 m (366 ft 7 in) o/a
Beam	18.9 m (62 ft 0 in)
Draught	7.32 m (24 ft 0 in)
Installed power	13,000–13,500 ihp (9,700–10,100 kW); 8–24 Boilers
Propulsion	2 Shafts 2 Triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	555 officers and enlisted men (578 as flagship)
Armament	2 gun turrets, each with 1 × 254 mm (10 in) gun or 2 × 203 mm (8 in) guns 10–14 × single 152 mm (6 in) guns 0–6 × single 120 mm (4.7 in) guns 10 × single 76 mm (3 in) guns 6 × single 47 mm (1.9 in) guns 4 × single 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armour	Waterline belt: 70–150 mm (2.8–5.9 in) Deck: 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) Barbette: 100–150 mm (3.9–5.9 in) Conning tower: 150 mm (5.9 in)

Design and description

Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1902

The design of the Giuseppe Garibaldi-class cruiser was derived by the naval architect Edoardo Masdea from his earlier Vettor Pisani-class design. The Garibaldis were slightly larger and about a knot faster than their predecessors, but the primary improvement was the addition of two gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. These remedied a major weakness of the older ships in that their primary armament, being on the broadside, could not engage targets that were directly in front or behind. The design was so popular that ten cruisers were purchased by four different countries; the Royal Italian Navy, the Argentine Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the Spanish Navy. As might be expected over a group of ships that was built from 1892 to 1903, design improvements and more modern equipment were incorporated over time so that only the three ships actually accepted by Italy were true sisters.^[1]

The first five ships were built to the same measurements, and form the Garibaldi sub-class, but the last five were stretched by six frames amidships, and comprise the Giuseppe Garibaldi sub-class. The ships of the first group had an overall length of 106.94 meters (350 ft 10 in), a beam of 18.2 meters (59 ft 9 in) and a deep draft (ship) of 7.1 meters (23 ft 4 in). They displaced 6,840 metric tons (6,730 long tons) at normal load.^[2] The second ship purchased by Argentina, General Belgrano, is reported by some sources to have had a beam of 18.8 meters (61 ft 8 in) and therefore displaced some 300–400 metric tons (300–390 long tons) more than the others.^[3][4]

The class was unusual in that they did not have a uniform main armament. Some had single 10-inch (254 mm) Elswick Pattern R guns in gun turrets fore and aft; others (including Kasuga) had a mixed armament of a single 10-inch (254 mm) gun in one turret and another turret with twin 8-inch (203 mm) guns. A third variation (including Nisshin) was a uniform armament of four 8-inch (203 mm) guns in twin gun turrets fore and aft. Cristobal Colon was fitted with 10-inch guns which the Spanish admiralty claimed were defective and which were removed before it was delivered. Therefore, it only went to battle with 10 smokeless powder Armstrong six inch guns mounted in the hull (5 on each side).

Ships

All ships were built by Gio. Ansaldo & C. in Genoa-Sestri Ponente, except ARA San Martin and ARA Belgrano which were subcontracted to Orlando in Livorno.

Construction data^[5]

Ship	Launched	Notes
Argentina
Garibaldi	27 May 1895	Originally constructed by Ansaldo as Giuseppe Garibaldi before sale to Argentina. Decommissioned, 20 March 1934
General Belgrano	25 July 1896	Laid down at Orlando as Varese but sold to Argentina. Decommissioned, 8 May 1947
Pueyrredón	25 September 1898	Built by Ansaldo Originally Giuseppe Garibaldi to replace previous then sold to Argentina. Decommissioned, 2 August 1954
San Martín	25 May 1896	Built at Orlando. Named Varese but sold to Argentina. Decommissioned, 18 December 1935
Italy
Francesco Ferruccio	23 April 1902	Converted to training ship 1924 for naval academy at Leghorn. Decommissioned, 1 April 1930
Giuseppe Garibaldi	29 June 1899	Sunk, 18 July 1915, by Austro-Hungarian submarine SM U-4
Varese	6 August 1899	Laid down April 1898, completed April 1901. Converted to training ship 1920. Decommissioned, 4 January 1923
Japan
Kasuga	22 October 1902	Laid down as Mitra, during construction sold to Argentina as Rivadavia but not delivered. Sold to Japan in 1904 and named Kasuga Disarmed 1920s under Washington Naval Treaty, sunk by bombing 18 July 1945
Nisshin	9 February 1903	Laid down as Roca, renamed Moreno before sale to Japan at end of 1903. Disarmed 1920s, scuttled 1936. Later raised and expended as a target ship, sunk by the battleship Yamato, 18 January 1942
Spain
Cristobal Colon	September 1896	Constructed as Giuseppe Garibaldi. Bought by Spain May 1896. Delivered at Genoa May 1897. Sank 3 July 1898 while salvage attempted after being run aground and surrendered during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.
Pedro de Aragon	Cancelled, never built

Construction and service

In addition, Spain was planning to acquire a second Garibaldi-class cruiser, to be named Pedro de Aragon. These plans were shelved after the Spanish–American War and the subsequent downsizing of the Spanish Armada.

Two of the Italian ships ordered in 1902 were sold to the Argentine Navy before completion as the Mitre and Roca; they were renamed as the Rivadavia and the Mariano Moreno. The Argentines in turn sold them to the Imperial Japanese Navy before final completion in 1904, and they were renamed the Kasuga and Nisshin.

Gallery

• 
  Spanish cruiser Cristobal Colon
• 
  ARA Garibaldi
• 
  ARA Belgrano
• 
  ARA Pueyrredon
• 
  ARA San Martin