Regina Maria Pia-class ironclad
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Regina Maria Pia c. 1870
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | Regina Maria Pia class |
| Builders: | |
| Operators: |
 Regia Marina
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| Preceded by: | Re d'Italia class |
| Succeeded by: | Roma class |
| Built: | 1862–1866 |
| In commission: | 1864–1910 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Retired: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Ironclad warship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 81.2 m (266 ft 5 in) |
| Beam: | 15.24 m (50 ft 0 in) |
| Draft: | 6.35 m (20 ft 10 in) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | One single-expansion steam engines |
| Speed: | 12.96 knots (24.00 km/h; 14.91 mph) |
| Range: | 2,600 nmi (4,800 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 480–485 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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The Regina Maria Pia class was a group of four ironclad warships built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1860s. The class comprised four ships, Regina Maria Pia, San Martino, Castelfidardo, and Ancona. They were built by French shipyards, since Italian yards were unable to meet the demand of the rapidly expanding Italian fleet. The ships were broadside ironclads and mounted a battery of twenty-six muzzle loading guns.
All four ships saw action at the Battle of Lissa during the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. Regina Maria Pia was badly burned in the battle, but the other three vessels were not seriously damaged. The ships served in a variety of roles for the remainder of their long careers; they were modernized in the late 1880s and thereafter used as a training ships. Regina Maria Pia, San Martino, and Ancona were discarded in 1903–04, and Castelfidardo joined them in the breaker's yard in 1910.
Following the unification of Italy in 1861, the new Regia Marina (Royal Navy) began a construction program to prepare a fleet of ironclad warships capable of defeating the Austrian Navy. Italy considered the Austrian Empire to be its main rival, since it controlled predominantly Italian areas, including Venice. The nascent Italian shipyards were incapable of building the number of ships the new fleet would require, so most of this first generation of ironclads were built by foreign ship builders. In 1862, the four ships of the Regina Maria Pia class were ordered from French shipyards, under the direction of Vice Admiral Carlo Pellion di Persano, then the Italian Navy Minister. These ships were designed by the French builders.
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