 = Principe Amedeo @-@ class ironclad = 
 
 The Principe Amedeo class was a pair of ironclad warships built for the Italian Regia Marina ( Royal Navy ) in the 1870s and 1880s . They were the culmination of a major naval construction program designed to give Italy a powerful fleet of ironclads . The two ships , Principe Amedeo and Palestro , were the last Italian ironclads to feature sailing rigs and wooden hulls . They were armed with a battery of six 10 @-@ inch ( 254 mm ) guns and were capable of a speed in excess of 12 knots ( 22 km / h ; 14 mph ) . The ships had uneventful careers , spending much of it in Italy 's colonial empire . By the late 1880s , they were withdrawn from service and employed in secondary roles , first as headquarters ships for harbor defenses . Principe Amedeo was converted into a depot ship in 1895 and was discarded in 1910 , while Palestro was used as a training ship from 1894 to 1900 before being scrapped in 1902 – 04 . 
 
 = = Design = = 
 
 In 1862 , the Italian government under Prime Minister <unk> <unk> and his naval minister Carlo <unk> di <unk> made the decision to build a fleet of ironclad warships . The Italian fleet had already acquired a pair of small , French @-@ built armored frigates of the <unk> class , and two more vessels of the Re d 'Italia class had been ordered from the United States . Five more ironclads were ordered from foreign shipyards , three wooden steam frigates already under construction were converted into armored ships , and four more ironclads were ordered from Italian shipyards . The two Principe Amedeo @-@ class ships were the last two of this first generation of Italian ironclads . The design for Principe Amedeo was prepared by Inspector Engineer Giuseppe De Luca . He had initially planned on using entirely wooden hulls for the ships , but had changed to composite wood and iron construction by the time the ships were laid down . 
 
 = = = General characteristics and machinery = = = 
 
 The two ships differed slightly in size . Principe Amedeo was 79 @.@ 73 meters ( 261 @.@ 6 ft ) long between <unk> , while Palestro was 78 @.@ 82 m ( 258 @.@ 6 ft ) long . Principe Amedeo had a beam of 17 @.@ 4 m ( 57 ft ) and a draft of 7 @.@ 9 m ( 26 ft ) ; Palestro 's beam measured 17 @.@ 3 m ( 57 ft ) , and she had a draft of 8 m ( 26 ft ) . Both ships displaced 5 @,@ 761 metric tons ( 5 @,@ <unk> long tons ; 6 @,@ 350 short tons ) normally , but Principe Amedeo displaced 6 @,@ 020 t ( 5 @,@ 920 long tons ; 6 @,@ 640 short tons ) at full load and Palestro reached 3 @,@ 218 t ( 3 @,@ 167 long tons ; 3 @,@ <unk> short tons ) . They had a crew of <unk> officers and men . 
 The ships ' propulsion system consisted of one single @-@ expansion steam engine that drove a single screw propeller , with steam supplied by six coal @-@ fired , cylindrical fire @-@ tube boilers . The boilers were <unk> into a single funnel . The lead ship 's engine produced a top speed of 12 @.@ 2 knots ( 22 @.@ 6 km / h ; 14 @.@ 0 mph ) at 6 @,@ 117 indicated horsepower ( 4 @,@ <unk> kW ) , while Palestro made 12 @.@ 85 kn ( 23 @.@ 80 km / h ; 14 @.@ 79 mph ) at the same horsepower . They could steam for 1 @,@ 780 nautical miles ( 3 @,@ 300 km ; 2 @,@ 050 mi ) at a speed of 10 knots ( 19 km / h ; 12 mph ) . The ships were barque @-@ rigged to supplement the steam engine ; Principe Amedeo and her sister were the last rigged ironclad to be built by Italy . The ships ' sail area were 36 @,@ 738 square feet ( 3 @,@ <unk> @.@ 1 m2 ) for Principe Amedeo and 37 @,@ 361 sq ft ( 3 @,@ <unk> @.@ 0 m2 ) for Palestro . 
 
 = = = Armament and armor = = = 
 
 Palestro and Principe Amedeo were both armed with a main battery of six 10 in ( 254 mm ) guns , though they were mounted differently in each ship . Principe Amedeo carried hers in a single armored casemate located amidships , while Palestro 's guns were mounted in three armored casemates . The first was located forward , toward the bow , the second and third were placed close to the stern on each side of the ship . Both ships also carried an 11 in ( 279 mm ) gun that was mounted forward as a bow <unk> . Later in her career , Principe Amedeo received a secondary battery of six 2 @.@ 9 in ( 74 mm ) guns and six machine guns , along with two torpedo tubes . 
 The two ships were protected by iron belt armor that was 8 @.@ 7 in ( 221 mm ) thick and extended for the entire length of the hull . The casemates were protected with 5 @.@ 5 in ( 140 mm ) of iron plating , and the small conning tower had 2 @.@ 4 in ( 61 mm ) thick iron plates . 
 
 = = Ships = = 
 
 
 = = Service history = = 
 
 Neither ship had a particularly eventful career . They were completed too late to take part in the final stages of the wars of Italian unification . Instead , they were assigned to the Italian colonial empire , with occasional <unk> in the main Italian fleet . In 1880 , Palestro took part in a naval demonstration off <unk> in an attempt to force the Ottoman Empire to comply with the terms of the Treaty of Berlin and turn over the town of <unk> to Montenegro . The following year , Principe Amedeo was involved in a collision with the ironclad <unk> during a hurricane , though neither ship was damaged . 
 In the late 1880s , both ships were withdrawn from <unk> service and employed as headquarters ships for the defense of Taranto — Principe Amedeo — and La <unk> — Palestro . Principe Amedeo was stricken from the naval register in 1895 and used as an ammunition depot ship in Taranto until 1910 , when she was sold for scrap . Palestro was employed as a training ship between 1894 and 1900 , when she too was stricken from the register . She was broken up between 1902 and 1904 . 
 
 