Italian battleship Emanuele Filiberto The Emanuele Filiberto was a pre - dreadnought battleship built for the Italian Navy ( ) during the 1890s . Her keel was laid down in October 1893 and she was launched in September 1897 ; work was completed in April 1902 . She had one sister ship , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " , the lead ship of the . She was armed with a main battery of four guns and was capable of a speed in excess of . " Emanuele Filiberto " served in the active squadron of the Italian navy for the first several years of her career . She was assigned to the 3rd Division during the Italo - Turkish War of 1911 – 1912 . During the war , she was involved in the assaults on Tripoli in North Africa and on the island of Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea . She was obsolescent by World War I and was slated to be broken up in 1914 – 15 , but the need for warships granted " Emanuele Filiberto " a respite . She spent the war as a harbor defense ship in Venice . She was stricken from the naval register in June 1920 and subsequently broken up for scrap . Design . " Emanuele Filiberto " was long overall and had a beam of and a maximum draft of . She displaced at full combat load . Her propulsion system consisted of two triple expansion engines rated at . Steam for the engines was provided by twelve coal - fired cylindrical water - tube boilers . The ship ' s propulsion system provided a top speed of and a range of approximately at . " Emanuele Filiberto " had a crew of 565 officers and enlisted men . As built , the ship was armed with four 40 - caliber guns placed in two twin gun turret s , one forward and one aft . The ship was also equipped with eight 40 - cal . guns in individual casemate s amidships . She was also equipped with six 40 - cal . guns in shielded pivot mounts directly above the casemate battery . The ship ' s gun armament was rounded out by eight guns . " Emanuele Filiberto " also carried four torpedo tube s in deck - mounted launchers . The ship was protected with Harvey steel . The main belt was thick , and the deck was thick . The conning tower was protected by 9 . 8 in of armor plating . The main battery guns had 9 . 8 in thick plating , and the casemates were thick . Service . " Emanuele Filiberto " was named after Prince Emanuele Filiberto , Duke of Aosta . She was built by the Castellammare Naval Shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia , Naples . She was laid down on 5 October 1893 and was launched on 29 September 1897 . In September 1900 , the ship began her sea trials off Naples ; during the tests , " Emanuele Filiberto " maintained a speed of for a two - hour period . She was completed on 16 April 1902 , although she had been commissioned on 6 September 1901 . " Emanuele Filiberto " spent the first several years of her career in the 1st Squadron , along with her sister " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " and the two s . In October 1906 , the ship participated in major fleet maneuvers under the command of Vice Admiral Alfonso di Brochetti in the Ionian Sea . The exercises lasted from 10 to 26 October . The maneuvers culminated in a mock attack by the Italian fleet on the harbor defenses at Taranto . During the 1908 maneuvers , " Emanuele Filiberto " served in the friendly squadron , while " Ammiraglio de Saint Bon " was assigned to the hostile squadron . Italo - Turkish War . On 29 September 1911 , Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire in order to seize Libya . " Emanuele Filiberto " served in the 3rd Division , which she joined on 30 September . She served alongside " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " and the two " Regina Margherita " class battleships . The ship took part in the bombardment of the fortresses defending Tripoli on 3 October . Italian soldiers went ashore two days later , and by the 11th , they had taken the city . In December , she was stationed in Italy . On 13 April 1912 , " Emanuele Filiberto " and the rest of the 3rd Division sailed from Tobruk to the Aegean Sea to rendezvous with the 1st Division . The two units met on 17 April off the island of Stampalia , after which the combined fleet steamed north . The following day , the ships cut submarine telegraph cable s between Imbros , Tenedos , Lemnos , Salonica , and the Dardanelles . Most of the fleet bombarded the fortresses protecting the Dardanelles ; in the meantime , " Emanuele Filiberto " and the torpedo boat " Ostro " steamed to the port of Vathy on the island of Samos and bombarded the Ottoman army barracks there . " Ostro " then torpedoed an Ottoman gunboat in the harbor , after which the Italian ships left . On 19 April , " Emanuele Filiberto " and most of the fleet returned to Italy , leaving only " Pisa " , " Amalfi " , and a flotilla of torpedo boats to cruise off the Ottoman coast . On 30 April , " Emanuele Filiberto " and the rest of the 3rd Division escorted a convoy of troopships from Tobruk to the island of Rhodes . The Italian heavy ships demonstrated off the city of Rhodes while the transports landed the expeditionary force to the south on 4 May ; the soldiers quickly advanced on the city , supported by artillery fire from the Italian fleet . The Turks surrendered the city the following day . Toward the end of May , the 3rd Division returned to Italy . In July , " Emanuele Filiberto " and the rest of the Division had withdrawn to Italy to replace worn - out gun barrels , along with other repairs . By October , the Ottomans had agreed to sign a peace treaty to end the war . World War I . Italy declared neutrality after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , but by July 1915 , the Triple Entente had convinced the Italians to enter the war against the Central Powers with promises of territory acquisition in " Italia irredenta " . The Austro - Hungarian Navy , which had been Italy ' s primary rival for decades , was the main opponent in the conflict . The Austro - Hungarian battle fleet lay in its harbors directly across the narrow Adriatic Sea . Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel , the Italian Naval Chief of Staff , believed that Austro - Hungarian submarine s and minelayers could operate very effectively in the narrow waters of the Adriatic . The threat from these underwater weapons to his capital ship s was too serious for him to use the fleet in an active way . Instead , Revel decided to implement a blockade at the relatively safer southern end of the Adriatic with the battle fleet , while smaller vessels , such as the MAS boats , conducted raids on Austro - Hungarian ships and installations . Meanwhile , Revel ' s battleships would be preserved to confront the Austro - Hungarian battle fleet in the event that it sought a decisive engagement . As a result , " Emanuele Filiberto " and the rest of the Italian battle fleet did not see significant action during the war . Once Italy entered the war , " Emanuele Filiberto " was used as a harbor defense ship in Venice to protect the port from Austrian naval attacks . She was aided in this task by her sister and the old battleship " Sardegna " , along with two cruisers and several smaller craft . The ship remained in the Italian Navy ' s inventory for only a short time after the end of the war in 1918 , and she was stricken from the naval register on 29 March 1920 and subsequently broken up for scrap .