Benedetto Brin on fleet maneuvers, photographed from the battleship St-Bon. Enlarge
History | Specifications | Photos | Links
The two Regina Margherita class battleships were built for the Regia Marina in 1898 - 1905. They were the final project of Italy's foremost naval architect, Benedetto Brin, who died soon after the ships had been laid down. Out of respect for the father of the modern Italian navy, the second ship was named for him. And as respect for Brin is a worthy pursuit for students of the Italian navy, let us pause here to reprise his accomplishments.
Born and educated at Tunis, where he qualified as a naval architect, Brin was for many years employed at the naval shipyard at Livorno (Leghorn), rising to become the supervisor there before accepting the call to lead the Navy. He was first appointed Navy Minister in 1876, and held that portfolio in four subsequent Cabinets. Brin also served as Foreign Minister under the Giolitti administration, holding both portfolios simultaneously. With his technical brilliance and forceful personality, Brin dominated the Italian Navy until his death, leaving a lasting imprint on the institution. Together with Col. Cuniberti and other protégés, Brin fostered an innovative corps of warship designers and builders. But Brin's greatest monument was the fleet itself. He was serving his fifth hitch as Navy Minister (Minister of Marine) when he died in Rome March 24, 1898, aged 63.
The lead ship had already been named for the former Queen of Italy and mother of Victor Emmanuel III, who assumed the throne on the assassination of King Umberto in 1900. It is only fair to note that the tradition of gravity-defying mustachios, so nobly advanced by Umberto and his predecessor, wilted under the new king. This was more than an acknowledgment of changing times; for the longtime royal mustache-dresser, don Alfonso Bogatelli, had died of grief the week after Umberto was assassinated in 1900. Known as the "wizard of wax," Bogatelli had been a faithful servant of both King Umberto and his father, Victor Emmanuel I, and was said to enjoy their complete confidence; after all, these mustachioed monarchs spent at least an hour under his hand before any state occasion, and more for touch-ups in between. The dresser had become a national hero throughout the Italian-speaking world and beyond; in some quarters, Bogatelli's passing was mourned more deeply than the demise of the king.
The two ships under our consideration embodied Brin's characteristic concerns: high speed (over 20 knots f.d.), dashing appearance, and heavy armament; as usual, considerable protection was traded off for firepower and speed. With a substantial, 21-foot freeboard forward, the Margheritas were flush-decked vessels. Amidships rose a dense, concentrated redoubt with high-built bridges at either end, the aft station higher than the forebridge; giving the ships a chunky look. Each ship had two masts and three funnels, arranged as in the Re Umberto class with two stacks paired abreast and one aft of them on the centerline. The switch to two masts allowed the funnels to be grouped more closely than in earlier classes adopting the scheme. The boiler rooms were thus in one block forward of the engine room instead of split, bookending the engines, as in many of Brin's previous designs.
With four 12-inch, four 8-inch, and twelve 6-inch guns, these were powerfully armed units compared to most contemporary battleships. Moreover, they had a good turn of speed for the time (20 knots). But as usual Brin had traded off protection for more speed. The ships' armor belts, nowhere thicker than 6 inches, would have been inadequate to protect their magazines and engines under combat conditions. For example, the ships' sides could have been pierced by opposing 12" guns from 9-12 mi (15-20 km) away. Some have argued that the ships ought to be considered battlecruisers; but in the lists of the time they are clearly rated as first class battleships. Both ships were active in the concluding phase of the Italo-Turkish War and the early part of World War I; both were lost in 1915-16.
Fortunately these thin-shelled ships never faced full-on combat; their fates suggest how ill-prepared they were.
Regina Margherita was launched at La Spezia in 1901 and completed three years later. She flew the flag of the C-in-C, Italian Mediterranean Fleet until 1910. Due to an explosion during repair work the following year, she was still in the yard and missed the opening phases of the Italo-Turkish War. In 1912 she fought the Turk in the Aegean along with sister ship Benedetto Brin (above).
On Dec. 11, 1916, while leaving Valona, Albania in a heavy sea, the Margherita struck two German-laid mines and sank. 674 of her crew were lost.
Benedetto Brin was launched at Castellammare di Stabia in 1901 and completed in 1905. Her magazines blew up in harbor at Brindisi on September 27, 1915. Enemy sabotage was suspected at the time. At a subsequent trial it was alleged that Germans had managed to smuggle a timed detonator into her main magazine. That was cold comfort to the families of the crew, 454 of them killed in the incident.
Born and educated at Tunis, where he qualified as a naval architect, Brin was for many years employed at the naval shipyard at Livorno (Leghorn), rising to become the supervisor there before accepting the call to lead the Navy. He was first appointed Navy Minister in 1876, and held that portfolio in four subsequent Cabinets. Brin also served as Foreign Minister under the Giolitti administration, holding both portfolios simultaneously. With his technical brilliance and forceful personality, Brin dominated the Italian Navy until his death, leaving a lasting imprint on the institution. Together with Col. Cuniberti and other protégés, Brin fostered an innovative corps of warship designers and builders. But Brin's greatest monument was the fleet itself. He was serving his fifth hitch as Navy Minister (Minister of Marine) when he died in Rome March 24, 1898, aged 63.The lead ship had already been named for the former Queen of Italy and mother of Victor Emmanuel III, who assumed the throne on the assassination of King Umberto in 1900. It is only fair to note that the tradition of gravity-defying mustachios, so nobly advanced by Umberto and his predecessor, wilted under the new king. This was more than an acknowledgment of changing times; for the longtime royal mustache-dresser, don Alfonso Bogatelli, had died of grief the week after Umberto was assassinated in 1900. Known as the "wizard of wax," Bogatelli had been a faithful servant of both King Umberto and his father, Victor Emmanuel I, and was said to enjoy their complete confidence; after all, these mustachioed monarchs spent at least an hour under his hand before any state occasion, and more for touch-ups in between. The dresser had become a national hero throughout the Italian-speaking world and beyond; in some quarters, Bogatelli's passing was mourned more deeply than the demise of the king.
The two ships under our consideration embodied Brin's characteristic concerns: high speed (over 20 knots f.d.), dashing appearance, and heavy armament; as usual, considerable protection was traded off for firepower and speed. With a substantial, 21-foot freeboard forward, the Margheritas were flush-decked vessels. Amidships rose a dense, concentrated redoubt with high-built bridges at either end, the aft station higher than the forebridge; giving the ships a chunky look. Each ship had two masts and three funnels, arranged as in the Re Umberto class with two stacks paired abreast and one aft of them on the centerline. The switch to two masts allowed the funnels to be grouped more closely than in earlier classes adopting the scheme. The boiler rooms were thus in one block forward of the engine room instead of split, bookending the engines, as in many of Brin's previous designs.
With four 12-inch, four 8-inch, and twelve 6-inch guns, these were powerfully armed units compared to most contemporary battleships. Moreover, they had a good turn of speed for the time (20 knots). But as usual Brin had traded off protection for more speed. The ships' armor belts, nowhere thicker than 6 inches, would have been inadequate to protect their magazines and engines under combat conditions. For example, the ships' sides could have been pierced by opposing 12" guns from 9-12 mi (15-20 km) away. Some have argued that the ships ought to be considered battlecruisers; but in the lists of the time they are clearly rated as first class battleships. Both ships were active in the concluding phase of the Italo-Turkish War and the early part of World War I; both were lost in 1915-16.
Fortunately these thin-shelled ships never faced full-on combat; their fates suggest how ill-prepared they were.Regina Margherita was launched at La Spezia in 1901 and completed three years later. She flew the flag of the C-in-C, Italian Mediterranean Fleet until 1910. Due to an explosion during repair work the following year, she was still in the yard and missed the opening phases of the Italo-Turkish War. In 1912 she fought the Turk in the Aegean along with sister ship Benedetto Brin (above).
On Dec. 11, 1916, while leaving Valona, Albania in a heavy sea, the Margherita struck two German-laid mines and sank. 674 of her crew were lost.
Benedetto Brin was launched at Castellammare di Stabia in 1901 and completed in 1905. Her magazines blew up in harbor at Brindisi on September 27, 1915. Enemy sabotage was suspected at the time. At a subsequent trial it was alleged that Germans had managed to smuggle a timed detonator into her main magazine. That was cold comfort to the families of the crew, 454 of them killed in the incident.
