Italian ironclad Re di Portogallo
Re di Portogallo was an ironclad warship built for the Italian "Regia Marina" in the 1860s, the second and final member of the . She was laid down at the William H. Webb Shipyard in New York in December 1861, was launched in August 1863, and was completed a year later in August 1864; the two "Re d'Italia"-class ships were the only Italian ironclads built in the United States. The ships were broadside ironclads, armed with a battery of six 72-pounder guns and thirty-two guns. "Re di Portogallo" saw action at the Battle of  Lissa during the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. She engaged several Austrian wooden vessels in the melee, including ship of the line , which rammed "Re di Portogallo" but inflicted no significant damage. The ship's career after the war was very limited; in 1871, she was converted into a training ship. By 1875, her wooden hull was found to have deteriorated badly, and so she was broken up for scrap. Design. "Re di Portogallo" was long overall; she had a beam of and an average draft of . She displaced normally and up to at full load. Her hull  was built from green wood. She had a crew of 552. The ship's propulsion system consisted of one single-expansion steam engine that drove a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by four coal-fired, rectangular boilers. Her engine produced a top speed of from . She could steam for about at a speed of . For long-distance travel, "Re di Portogallo" was fitted with three masts and was barque-rigged. "Re di Portogallo" was a broadside ironclad, and she was armed with a main battery of six 72-pounder guns and thirty-two rifled muzzle-loading guns. The ship  was equipped with a spur-shaped ram at the bow. The ship's hull was sheathed with wrought iron armor that was thick. Her rudder and propellers, however, were not protected by her armor. Service history. The keel for "Re di Portogallo" was laid down at the William H. Webb Shipyard in New York City in December 1861; she and her sister were the only Italian ironclads to be built in the United States. She was launched on 29 August 1863 and completed just under a year later, on 23 August 1864. "Re di Portogallo" then crossed the Atlantic and  joined the Italian fleet. In June 1866, Italy declared war on Austria, as part of the Third Italian War of Independence, which was fought concurrently with the Austro-Prussian War. The Italian fleet commander, Admiral Carlo Pellion di Persano, initially adopted a cautious course of action; he was unwilling to risk battle with the Austrian Navy, despite the fact that the Austrian fleet was much weaker than his own. Persano claimed he was simply waiting on the ironclad ram , "en route" from Britain, but his inaction weakened morale in the fleet, with many of his subordinates openly accusing him of  cowardice. Rear Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff brought the Austrian fleet to Ancona on June 27, in attempt to draw out the Italians. At the time, many of the Italian ships were in disarray; several ships did not have their entire armament, and several others had problems with their engines, including "Re di Portogallo", which could not get underway. Persano held a council of war aboard the ironclad to determine whether he should sortie to engage Tegetthoff, but by that time, the Austrians had withdrawn, making the decision moot. The Minister of the Navy, Agostino Depretis, urged Persano to act and  suggested the island of Lissa, to restore Italian confidence after their defeat at the Battle of Custoza the previous month. On 7 July, Persano left Ancona and conducted a sweep into the Adriatic, but encountered no Austrian ships and returned on the 13th. Battle of Lissa. On 16 July, Persano took the Italian fleet out of Ancona, bound for Lissa, where they arrived on the 18th. With them, they brought troop transports carrying 3,000 soldiers; the Italian warships began bombarding the Austrian forts on the island, with the intention of landing the soldiers once the fortresses had been silenced. In  response, the Austrian Navy sent the fleet under Tegetthoff to attack the Italian ships. "Re di Portogallo" was at that time in the 3rd Division, along with the ironclads , , and , and the coastal defense ship . After spending the 18th unsuccessfully bombarding the Austrian fortresses, the Italians withdrew late in the day, preparing to launch another attack the following morning. Persano sent most of his ships to bombard the town of Vis, but he was unable to effect the landing. The next morning, Persano ordered another attack; four ironclads would force the harbor defenses at Vis while "Re di Portogallo" and  the rest of the fleet would attempt to suppress the outer fortifications. This second attack also proved to be a failure, but Persano decided to make a third attempt the next day. "Re di Portogallo" and the bulk of the fleet would again try to disable the outer forts in preparation for the landing. Before the Italians could begin the attack, the dispatch boat arrived, bringing news of Tegetthoff's approach. Persano's fleet was in disarray; the three ships of Admiral Giovanni Vacca's 1st Division were three miles to the northeast from Persano's main force, and three  other ironclads were further away to the west. Persano immediately ordered his ships to form up with Vacca's, first in line abreast formation, and then in line ahead formation. "Re di Portogallo" initially had trouble getting her engines running, but after repairs were quickly made, she joined the rest of the fleet. She was one of the last ships in the line. Shortly before the action began, Persano decided to leave his flagship and transfer to "Affondatore", though none of his subordinates on the other ships were aware of the change. They were thus left to fight as individuals  without direction. More dangerously, by stopping "Re d'Italia", he allowed a significant gap to open up between Vacca's three ships and the rest of the fleet. Tegetthoff took his fleet through the gap between Vacca's and Persano's ships, in an attempt to split the Italian line and initiate a melee. He failed to ram any Italian vessels on the first pass, so he turned back toward Persano's ships, and took "Re d'Italia", "San Martino", and "Palestro" under heavy fire. The Austrians quickly inflicted serious damage on "Re d'Italia" and "Palestro", eventually sinking both ships. After "Palestro  withdrew, the Austrian ironclads turned their attention to the 3rd Division, including Re di Portogallo". "Re di Portogallo" initially attacked the unarmored ships and before the ship of the line rammed "Re di Portogallo" in an attempt to save them. "Kaiser" struck only a glancing blow, however, and inflicted little damage. "Re di Portogallo" fired her light guns into the ship in response, starting a fire, and killing or wounding a number of Austrian gunners before "Kaiser" could break free. By this time, "Re d'Italia" had been rammed and sunk, and "Palestro" had been set on fire, soon to be  destroyed by a magazine explosion. Persano broke off the engagement, and though his ships still outnumbered the Austrians, Persano refused to counter-attack with his badly demoralized forces. In addition, the fleet was low on coal and ammunition. The Italian fleet began to withdraw, followed by the Austrians; as night began to fall, the opposing fleets disengaged completely, heading for Ancona and Pola, respectively. "Re di Portogallo" emerged from the battle relatively unscathed, though many of her iron plates had been loosened in the collision with "Kaiser". Later career. After the battle, Vacca replaced Persano; he was ordered to attack  the main Austrian naval base at Pola, but the war ended before the operation could be carried out. The damage to "Re di Portogallo" was repaired after the battle, but the ship was rapidly made obsolete by the development of casemate ships and shortly thereafter turret ships. As a result, her postwar career was very limited. In 1870, the ship's armament was modified; twenty of her 164 mm guns were removed and two guns were added. The following year, she was converted into a gunnery training ship, and was again re-equipped, now with twenty 8 in guns, two  guns, and eight guns. In 1873, she was stationed in La Spezia for gunnery training. The ship did not serve long in this capacity; the ageing of the unseasoned wood used to build the ship, coupled with several flaws in the ship's construction cut her career short. She was stricken from the naval register on 31 March 1875 and subsequently broken up for scrap. The Navy discarded "Re di Portogallo" and the three s between 1875 and 1880 to remove the cost of maintaining them from the naval budget, as part of an effort to reduce the financial impact  of the new and es then under construction.