Folgore-class cruiser
The "Folgore" class was a pair of torpedo cruisers built for the Italian "Regia Marina" (Royal Navy) in the 1880s. The two ships— and —were designed by Benedetto Brin during a period of experimentation with the theories of the "Jeune École" in the 1880s. The vessels were armed with three torpedo tubes, and they had a top speed of . Both ships' careers were uneventful, and they spent most of their time in service conducting training exercises. "Folgore" was seriously damaged in a collision in 1889, and was thereafter reduced to reserve status, as the damage could not  be completely repaired. She was eventually sold for scrapping in 1900, while "Saetta" served as a gunnery training ship from 1897 to 1908, when she too was dismantled. Design. "Folgore" and "Saetta" were designed by Benedetto Brin; Brin had previously designed several classes of very large ironclad battleships, including the and es, but by the 1880s, he had begun to embrace the ideas of the "Jeune École", which emphasized small, fast, torpedo-armed vessels that could damage or destroy the much larger battleships at a fraction of the cost. After the two "Folgore"s, which were rated as "torpediniere-avisos" (torpedo -avisos), the eight ships of the were laid down, continuing Brin's ideas at the time. Characteristics. The ships of the "Folgore" class were long overall and had a beam of . "Folgore" displaced normally, while "Saetta" displaced . "Folgore" had an average draft of , while "Saetta" sat slightly lower in the water as a result of her greater displacement, with a draft of . Their hulls were constructed from steel and featured a pronounced ram bow. The ships had a crew of between 57 and 70 that varied in size over the course of their careers. Her propulsion system consisted of a  pair of horizontal double-expansion steam engines manufactured by Hawthorn Leslie and Co., each driving a single screw propeller. Steam for the engines was supplied by four coal-fired locomotive boilers that were trunked into a single funnel amidships. In 1892, "Saetta" was re-boilered with oil-fired models for experimentation purposes. "Folgore" could steam at a speed of from , while "Saetta" reached the same speed from . The ships had a coal storage capacity of . The primary armament for the "Folgore" class was three torpedo tubes. They also carried a small gun armament for defense against torpedo boats, consisting of  two 43-caliber (cal.) guns, two guns and four 25-cal. guns, all mounted singly. The ships carried no armor protection. Service history. After entering service, both vessels were assigned to the main Italian fleet. They were primarily occupied with annual training exercises, along with occasional fleet reviews for monarchs, including one for the King of Italy, Umberto I in 1887 and German Emperor Wilhelm II in 1888. In 1889, "Folgore" was badly damaged in a collision with the protected cruiser and could not be repaired to her original condition. As a result, she spent most of the rest of  her career in reserve. For much of the 1890s, "Saetta" was frequently reduced to reserve, in part to reduce maintenance on the vessel. "Folgore" made a temporary return to active service in 1895, when she joined "Saetta" for the annual maneuvers. In 1897, she was withdrawn from front-line service and employed with the gunnery school; her gun armament was accordingly increased in 1902 to provide a variety of weapons for gunnery trainees to practice operating. In the meantime, "Folgore" was stricken from the naval register in 1900 and broken up for scrap. "Saetta" continued in her service with the  gunnery school until 1908, when she too was broken up.