Italian cruiser Aretusa
Aretusa was a torpedo cruiser of the built for the Italian "Regia Marina" (Royal Navy) in the 1880s. Laid down in June 1889 at the Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando shipyard, she was launched in March 1891 and was commissioned in September 1892. Her main armament were her six torpedo tubes, which were supported by a battery of ten small-caliber guns. "Aretusa" spent most of her career in the main Italian fleet, where she was primarily occupied with training exercises. At the start of the Italo-Turkish War in September 1911, she was assigned to the Red  Sea Squadron in Italian Eritrea. She bombarded Ottoman positions in the Arabian Peninsula and took part in a blockade of the coast. Worn out by the end of the war in October 1912, "Aretusa" was sold for scrap that December and broken up. Design. "Aretusa" was long overall and had a beam of and an average draft of . She displaced normally. The ship had a short forecastle deck that terminated at the conning tower. She had a crew of between 96 and 121 personnel. Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a  single screw propeller. Steam was supplied by four coal-fired locomotive boilers, which were vented through two widely spaced funnels. Specific figures for "Aretusa"s engine performance have not survived, but the ships of her class had top speeds of at . The ship had a cruising radius of about at a speed of . "Aretusa" was armed with a main battery of one /40 gun placed on the forecastle. Close-range defense against torpedo boats was provided by a secondary battery of six /43 guns mounted singly. She was also equipped with three /20 guns in single mounts. Her primary offensive weapon  was her five torpedo tubes. The ship was protected by an armored deck that was up to thick; her conning tower was armored with the same thickness of steel plate. Service history. "Aretusa" was laid down at the Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando (Orlando Brothers' Shipyard) in Livorno on 1 June 1889, and was launched on 14 March 1891. After fitting-out work was completed, the ship was commissioned into the fleet on 1 September 1892. During the 1893 fleet maneuvers, "Aretusa" served with the 3rd Division of the Reserve Squadron, along with the protected cruisers and and four torpedo boats . During the maneuvers, which lasted from 6 August to 5 September, the ships of the Reserve Squadron defended against a simulated attack by the Active Squadron, which gamed a French attack on the Italian fleet. Beginning on 14 October 1984, the Italian fleet, including "Aretusa", assembled in Genoa for a naval review held in honor of King Umberto I at the commissioning of the new ironclad . The festivities lasted three days. In 1895, "Aretusa" was stationed in the 2nd Maritime Department, split between Taranto and Naples, along with most of the torpedo cruisers in the Italian fleet. These included her  sister ships , , , , , and , the four s, and . As of 1898, "Aretusa" was assigned to the Active Squadron, with included the ironclads and and two other cruisers. Italo-Turkish War. At the start of the Italo-Turkish War in September 1911, "Aretusa" was stationed in Italian Eritrea in the Red Sea Squadron. Italian naval forces in the region also included five protected cruisers and several smaller vessels. Shortly after the start of the war on 2 October, "Aretusa" and the gunboat encountered the Ottoman torpedo cruiser off Al Hudaydah. In a short engagement, the Italians vessels forced the Ottoman ship to  flee into Al Hudaydah, bombarded the port facilities, and then withdrew. "Peyk-i Şevket" was later interned in British-controlled Suez. The threat of an Ottoman attack from the Arabian Peninsula led the Italian High Command to reinforce the Red Sea Squadron; the additional ships included another cruiser and several destroyers. The protected cruiser and two destroyers annihilated a force of seven Ottoman gunboats in the Battle of Kunfuda Bay on 7 January 1912. Following the neutralization of Ottoman naval forces in the region, "Aretusa" and the rest of the Italian ships then commenced a bombardment campaign against the Turkish  ports in the Red Sea before declaring a blockade of the city of Al Hudaydah on 26 January. On 27 July and 12 August, "Aretusa", her sister ship "Caprera", and "Piemonte" conducted two bombardments of Al Hudaydah. During the second attack, they destroyed an Ottoman ammunition dump. With the threat of an Ottoman attack greatly reduced, the High Command thereafter began to withdraw forces from the Red Sea Squadron. By the end of August, the unit was reduced to three protected cruisers, "Aretusa", "Caprera" and two auxiliaries. On 14 October, the Ottoman government agreed to sign a peace treaty, ending  the war. "Aretusa"s career ended shortly thereafter; the "Regia Marina" discarded the ship in December and she was subsequently broken up for scrap.