Regina Margherita - class battleship The " Regina Margherita " class was a class of two battleships built for the Italian " Regia Marina " between 1898 and 1905 . The class comprised two ships : " Regina Margherita " and " Benedetto Brin " . The ships were designed by the latter ' s namesake , Benedetto Brin , who died before the ships were completed . They were armed with a main battery of four guns and could steam at a speed of . Both ships saw extensive service with the Italian fleet for the first decade of their careers . They saw action in the Italo - Turkish War of 1911 – 1912 , where they participated in the seizure of Cyrenaica in North Africa and operations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea . They were reduced to training ships by World War I , and both ships were lost with heavy death tolls during the conflict . " Benedetto Brin " exploded in Brindisi in September 1915 , and " Regina Margherita " struck a mine and sank in December 1916 . Design . After the negative experience with the preceding , which were too weak to engage foreign battleships , and too slow to catch cruiser s , the Italian navy wanted a new battleship that returned to a larger , more effective size . In particular , they wanted to be able to challenge the new s being built in neighboring Austria - Hungary . They returned to the gun that was standard in most other navies of the day , but sacrificed armor protection to achieve high speed . As such , the ships represented a hybrid type that merged the firepower of the slow battleships and the speed of a cruiser . Benedetto Brin initially wanted to arm the ships with only two of the 12 - inch guns and twelve guns , but after his death , Admiral Ruggero Alfredo Micheli altered the design to double the number of 12 - inch guns , at the expense of eight of the medium - caliber pieces . General characteristics and machinery . The " Regina Margherita " - class ships were long at the waterline and long overall . They had a beam of ; " Regina Margherita " had a draft of , while " Benedetto Brin " drew slightly more , at . They displaced at normal loading and at full combat load , " Regina Margherita " displaced while " Benedetto Brin " , slightly heavier , displaced . Their hulls were equipped with a double bottom . The ships were built with a ram bow and had a raised forecastle deck . They had two masts , both with fighting top s ; the foremast was located directly behind the conning tower and bridge . The ships had a crew of 812 – 900 officers and enlisted men . The ships ' propulsion system consisted of two triple expansion engines . Steam for the engines was provided by twenty - eight coal - fired water - tube Niclausse boiler s in " Regina Margherita " . " Benedetto Brin " meanwhile was equipped with the same number of Belleville boiler s . The lead ship ' s engines were rated at , while " Benedetto Brin " s were slightly less efficient , at . The two ships had a top speed of and a range of approximately at . Armament and armor . The ships were armed with four 40 - caliber guns placed in two twin gun turret s , one forward and one aft . They were also equipped with four 40 - cal . guns in casemate s in the superstructure , and twelve 40 - cal . guns , also in casemates in the side of the hull . Close - range defense against torpedo boats was provided by a battery of twenty 40 - cal . guns . The ships also carried a pair of guns , two guns , and two Maxim gun s . The " Regina Margherita " - class battleships were also equipped with four torpedo tube s placed in the hull below the waterline . The ships of the " Regina Margherita " class were protected with Harvey steel manufactured in Terni . The main belt was thick , and the deck was thick . The conning tower and the casemate guns were also protected by 6 in of armor plating . The main battery guns had stronger armor protection , at thick . Coal was used extensively in the protection scheme , including a layer intended to protect the ships ' internals from underwater damage . Service history . Both " Regina Margherita " and " Benedetto Brin " served in the active duty squadron for the first few years of their careers , and participated in the peacetime routine of fleet training . " Regina Margherita " frequently served as the fleet flagship before the completion of the new s . On 29 September 1911 , Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire , starting the Italo - Turkish War . The two ships saw action during the war in the 3rd Division in the 2nd Squadron . " Benedetto Brin " took part in the attack on Tripoli in October 1911 , and both were involved in the campaign to seize Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea . Italy initially remained neutral during World War I , but by 1915 , had been convinced by the Triple Entente to enter the war against Germany and Austria - Hungary . Both the Italians and Austro - Hungarians adopted a cautious fleet policy in the confined waters of the Adriatic Sea , and so the two " Regina Margherita " - class battleships did not see action . " Benedetto Brin " served as a training ship based in Brindisi until she was destroyed in an internal explosion in the harbor on 27 September 1915 with heavy loss of life ; 454 men of the ship ' s crew died in the explosion . " Regina Margherita " , also serving as a training ship , served for somewhat longer , until she struck a mine laid by the German submarine SM " UC - 14 " on the night of 11 – 12 December 1916 . Some 675 men were killed in the sinking .