Italian battleship Ammiraglio di Saint Bon Ammiraglio di Saint Bon was a pre - dreadnought battleship of the Italian Navy ( ) built during the 1890s . She was laid down in July 1893 , launched in April 1897 , and completed in May 1901 . She was the lead ship of her class , and had one sister ship , " Emanuele Filiberto " . The ship was armed with a main battery of four guns and was capable of a top speed of . " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " 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 seizure of the island of Rhodes , where she provided gunfire support to Italian infantry . The ship was obsolescent by World War I and was slated to be broken up in 1914 – 15 , but the need for warships granted " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " a respite . She spent the war as a harbor defense ship in Venice and , after April 1916 , was used primarily as a floating anti - aircraft battery . She was stricken from the naval register in June 1920 and subsequently broken up for scrap . Design . " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " 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 . " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " had a crew of 557 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 . She was also equipped with eight 40 - cal . guns in individual casemate s amidships , and eight 40 - cal . guns in shielded pivot mounts directly above the casemate battery . The ship ' s gun armament was rounded out by eight guns and two guns . " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " 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 . " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " was built by the Venice Naval Shipyard . She was laid down on 18 July 1893 and launched on 29 April 1897 , after which her fitting out took place . The ship began her sea trials in January 1901 off La Spezia , and was commissioned on 1 February . Her preliminary full - power trials began on 5 May , during which she reached . Her official speed trials took place on 23 May , where she reached a top speed of . Her trials were completed the following day . The ship spent the first several years of her career in the 1st Squadron , along with her sister " Emanuele Filiberto " and the two s . In October 1906 , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " 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 , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " served in the hostile squadron , tasked with attacking the friendly squadron , where her sister was assigned . Italo - Turkish War . On 29 September 1911 , Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire in order to seize Libya . " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " initially served in the 3rd Division of the 2nd Squadron , but was later transferred to the Division of the Torpedo Boat Inspector , commanded by Rear Admiral Prince Luigi Amedeo . The ship was not heavily involved in the fighting in North Africa in the first months of the war and , in December , was transferred to Italy . On 13 April 1912 , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " and the rest of the Division sailed from Tobruk to the Aegean Sea to rendezvous with the 1st Division . The two divisions 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 . They then steamed to the entrance to the Dardanelles in an attempt to lure out the Ottoman fleet . When the Ottoman coastal fortifications began to take the Italian ships under fire , the Italians returned fire and inflicted serious damage on them . On 19 April , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " and most of the fleet returned to Italy , leaving only " Pisa " , " Amalfi " , and a flotilla of torpedo boat s to cruise off the Ottoman coast . On 30 April 1912 , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " 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 . While the Italian troops completed the conquest of the island , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " bombarded Ottoman positions in support of the Italian offensive . Toward the end of May , the 3rd Division returned to Italy . In July , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " 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 . After the war , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " had six searchlights installed on platforms abreast the funnels and the mast . A rangefinder was also added on top of the conning tower . In 1913 , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " participated in an international naval demonstration in the Ionian Sea to protest the Balkan Wars . Ships from other navies included in the demonstration were the British pre - dreadnought , the Austro - Hungarian pre - dreadnought , the French armored cruiser , and the German light cruiser . The most important action of the combined flotilla , which was under the command of British Admiral Cecil Burney , was to blockade the Montenegrin coast . The goal of the blockade was to prevent Serbian reinforcements from supporting the siege at Scutari , where Montenegro had besieged a combined force of Albanians and Ottomans . Pressured by the international blockade , Serbia withdrew its army from Scutari , which was subsequently occupied by a joint Allied ground force . World War I . Italy declared her 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 . Nevertheless , the outbreak of war prompted Italy to retain " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " and her sister , which had been scheduled for disposal in 1914 – 15 . The Austro - Hungarian Navy , Italy ' s traditional naval rival , was the primary opponent in the conflict . The Italian Naval Chief of Staff , Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel , believed that an active fleet policy was prohibited by the serious threat from submarine s in the confined waters of the Adriatic Sea . Instead , Revel decided to implement blockade at the 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 capital ship s would be preserved to confront the Austro - Hungarian battle fleet in the event that it sought a decisive engagement . As a result , the ship was not particularly active during the war . From the onset of Italian participation in the war , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " was used as a harbor defense ship in Venice , along with her sister and the old battleship " Sardegna " , as well as two cruisers and several smaller craft . After April 1916 , " Ammiraglio di Saint Bon " was used as a floating anti - aircraft battery to defend Venice . She continued in this role until the end of the war in November 1918 . The ship remained in the Italian Navy ' s inventory for only a short time after the end of the war ; she was stricken from the naval register on 18 June 1920 and subsequently broken up for scrap .