Regina Elena - class battleship The " Regina Elena " class was a group of four pre - dreadnought battleship s built for the Italian Regia Marina between 1901 and 1908 . The class comprised four ships : " Regina Elena " , the lead ship , " Vittorio Emanuele " , " Roma " , and " Napoli " . Designed by Vittorio Cuniberti , they were armed with a main battery of two guns and twelve guns , and were capable of a top speed of . They were the fastest battleships in the world at the time of their commissioning , faster even than the British turbine - powered . The ships saw service during the Italo - Turkish War of 1911 – 1912 with the Ottoman Empire . They frequently supported Italian ground forces during the campaigns in North Africa and the islands of the eastern Mediterranean Sea . They served during World War I , in which Italy participated from 1915 to 1918 , but they saw no combat as a result of the cautious policies adopted by the Italian and Austro - Hungarian navies . All four ships were discarded between 1923 and 1926 and broken up for scrap . Design . Starting in 1899 , Vittorio Cuniberti began design work on a warship armed with a uniform battery of twelve guns , armored with thick belt armor , and capable of a top speed of , on a displacement of . This proved to be the genesis of Cuniberti ' s later designs , which culminated in the British all - big - gun . When the 1899 design project was not accepted , Cuniberti turned his attention to a new design requirement for a battleship faster than all British and French battleships and stronger than the armored cruiser s fielded by both navies . This resulted in a modified version of his earlier design , what came to be the " Regina Elena " class . General characteristics and machinery . The ships of the " Regina Elena " class were long at the waterline and long overall . They had a beam of and a draft of . They displaced at normal loading and up to at full combat load . The ships had a crew of 742 – 764 officers and enlisted men . The ships were initially fitted with two masts , but after refits early in their careers , " Regina Elena " s and " Napoli " s foremasts were removed . The battleships ' propulsion system consisted of two vertical four - cylinder triple expansion engines rated at . Steam for the engines was provided by twenty - eight coal - fired Belleville boiler s in the first two ships , and 28 Babcock & Wilcox boiler s in the last two , split between three boiler rooms . The boilers were trunked into three tall funnels . The ships ' propulsion system provided a top speed in excess of ; " Napoli " , the fastest member of the class , reached on her speed trials . The ships had a range of approximately at . At the time of their completion , they were the fastest battleships in the world , faster even than the steam turbine - powered HMS " Dreadnought " . Armament and armor . The " Regina Elena " s were armed with two 40 - caliber guns placed in two single gun turret s , one forward and one aft . The turrets were placed well clear of the superstructure , giving them a wide arc of fire , close to 300 degrees of rotation . Electric power was used for training and elevation of the turrets and ammunition handling . The lighter main battery , compared to other pre - dreadnought type battleships that typically carried twice as many heavy guns , was criticized by some observers , but Dr . Philip Alger writing in " Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute " noted that " it should be borne in mind that a pair of guns in a turret do not make twice as good shooting as a single gun , " and that given the limited displacement of the design , it " was the wisest choice that could be made . " Fire control for the guns was provided by Barr and Stroud rangefinder s mounted on the conning tower . The ammunition magazines were fitted with refrigeration systems to minimize the risk of accidental explosions . The ships were also equipped with twelve 40 - cal . guns in six twin turrets amidships , which also used electrical operation . The central turrets were placed a deck higher than the others to permit them firing directly ahead and astern . Close - range defense against torpedo boats was provided by a battery of sixteen 40 - cal . guns , though " Roma " and " Napoli " both had an additional eight guns of this caliber . All four ships were also equipped with two torpedo tube s placed in the hull below the waterline . The ships was protected with Krupp cemented steel manufactured in Terni . The main belt was thick amidships , reduced to abreast of the main battery turrets , and thick at the bow and stern . The deck was thick . The conning tower was protected by of armor plating . The main battery guns had thick plating , and the 8 - inch gun turrets had 6 in thick sides . Service histories . The four ships of the " Regina Elena " class served in the active duty squadron after their commissioning through 1911 and participated in the peacetime routine of fleet training . On 29 September 1911 , Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire , starting the Italo - Turkish War . The four ships saw action during the war in the 1st Division of the 1st Squadron . They participated in the operations off North Africa in the first months of the war , including escorting the crossing of the Italian expeditionary army sent to conquer Cyrenaica . Later in the war , they took part in the seizure of Rhodes and the Dodecanese . 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 four " Regina Elena " - class battleships did not see action . They spent the war rotating between the naval bases at Taranto , Brindisi , and Valona . After the end of the war , the ships of the class were only retained for a few years . Between February 1923 and September 1926 , all four ships were stricken from the naval register and broken up for scrap .