Postcard ofLeonardo da Vinci inTaranto
History
Italy
Name	Leonardo da Vinci
Namesake	Leonardo da Vinci
Builder	Odero,Genoa-Sestri Ponente
Laid down	18 July 1910
Launched	14 October 1911
Completed	17 May 1914
Fate	Sunk by explosion, 2 August 1916 Refloated, 17 September 1919 Sold for scrapping, 26 March 1923
General characteristics
Class & type	Conte di Cavour-classbattleship
Displacement	23,088long tons (23,458 t) (standard) 25,086 long tons (25,489 t) (deep load)
Length	176 m (577 ft 5 in) (o/a)
Beam	28 m (91 ft 10 in)
Draft	9.3 m (30 ft 6 in)
Installed power	20 ×water-tube boilers 31,000 shp (23,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 3 ×steam turbine sets
Speed	21.6knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph)
Range	4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	31 officers and 969 enlisted men
Armament	3 × triple, 2 × twin305 mm (12 in) guns 18 × single 120 mm (4.7 in) guns 14 × single76.2 mm (3 in) guns 3 × 450 mm (17.7 in)torpedo tubes
Armor	Waterline belt: 80–250 mm (3.1–9.8 in) Deck: 24–40 mm (0.94–1.57 in) Gun turrets: 240–280 mm (9.4–11.0 in) Barbettes: 130–230 mm (5.1–9.1 in) Conning tower: 280 mm (11 in)

Leonardo da Vinci was the last of threeConte di Cavour-classdreadnoughts built for theRegia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) in the early 1910s. Completed just before the beginning ofWorld War I, the ship saw no action and was sunk by amagazine explosion in 1916 with the loss of 248 officers and enlisted men. TheItalians blamedAustro-Hungariansaboteurs for her loss, but it may have been accidental.Leonardo da Vinci wasrefloated in 1919 and plans were made to repair her. Budgetary constraints did not permit this, and herhulk was sold forscrap in 1923.

TheConte di Cavour class was designed to counter the FrenchCourbet-class dreadnoughts which caused them to be slower and more heavily armored than the first Italian dreadnought,Dante Alighieri.^[1] The ships were 168.9 meters (554 ft 2 in)long at the waterline and 176 meters (577 ft 5 in)overall. They had abeam of 28 meters (91 ft 10 in), and adraft of 9.3 meters (30 ft 6 in).^[2] TheConte di Cavour-class shipsdisplaced 23,088long tons (23,458 t) at normal load, and 25,086 long tons (25,489 t) atdeep load. They had a crew of 31 officers and 969 enlisted men.^[3] They were powered by three sets ofParsonssteam turbines, two sets driving the outerpropeller shafts and one set the two inner shafts. Steam for the turbines was provided by twenty Blechyndenwater-tube boilers, eight of which burned oil and twelve of which burned bothfuel oil and coal. Designed to reach a maximum speed of 22.5knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph) from 31,000shaft horsepower (23,000 kW),Leonardo da Vinci only reached a speed of 21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph) using 32,800 shp (24,500 kW). The ships carried enough coal and oil^[4] to give them a range of 4,800nautical miles (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph).^[2]

Themain battery of theConte di Cavour class consisted of thirteen305-millimeter Model 1909 guns, in fivecenterlinegun turrets, with a twin-gun turretsuperfiring over a triple-gun turret in fore and aft pairs, and a third triple turretamidships.^[5] Theirsecondary armament consisted of eighteen 120-millimeter (4.7 in) guns mounted incasemates on the sides of the hull. For defense againsttorpedo boats, the ships carried fourteen76.2-millimeter (3 in) guns; thirteen of these could be mounted on the turret tops, but they could be positioned in 30 different locations, including some on theforecastle and upper decks. They were also fitted with three submerged 450-millimeter (17.7 in)torpedo tubes, one on eachbroadside and the third in the stern.^[6]

TheConte di Cavour-class ships had a completewaterlinearmor belt that had a maximum thickness of 250 millimeters (9.8 in) amidships, which reduced to 130 millimeters (5.1 in) towards the stern and 80 millimeters (3.1 in) towards the bow. They had two armoreddecks: the main deck was 24 mm (0.94 in) thick on the flat that increased to 40 millimeters (1.6 in) on the slopes that connected it to the main belt. The second deck was 30 millimeters (1.2 in) thick. Frontal armor of the gun turrets was 280 millimeters (11 in) in thickness and the sides were 240 millimeters (9.4 in) thick. The armor protecting theirbarbettes ranged in thickness from 130 to 230 millimeters (5.1 to 9.1 in). The walls of the forwardconning tower were 280 millimeters thick.^[7][8]

Leonardo da Vinci, named after theartist and inventor,^[9] was built by theOdero Shipbuilding Co., at theirSestri Ponente,Genoa shipyard. She waslaid down on 18 July 1910,launched on 14 October 1911, and completed on 17 May 1914. The ship saw no combat during the war and spent most of it at anchor.^[10] AdmiralPaolo Thaon di Revel, the Italian naval chief of staff, believed that Austro-Hungariansubmarines andminelayers could operate too effectively in the narrow waters of theAdriatic. The threat from these underwater weapons to his capital ships was too serious for him to actively deploy the fleet. Instead, Revel decided to implement a blockade at the relatively safer southern end of the Adriatic with the battle fleet, while smaller vessels, such asMAS torpedo boats, conducted raids on Austro-Hungarian ships and installations. Meanwhile, Revel's battleships would be preserved to confront the Austro-Hungarian battle fleet in the event that it sought a decisive engagement.^[11]

Shecapsized inTaranto harbor,^[12] in 11 meters (36 ft) of water,^[13] after an internal magazine explosion on the night of 2/3 August 1916 while loading ammunition. Casualties included 21 officers and 227 enlisted men.^[14] The subsequent investigation blamedAustro-Hungariansaboteurs, but unstable propellant may well have been responsible.^[5][15]

TheRegia Marina wanted to raise the ship and rejected initial plans to demolish the wreck with explosives. They ultimately settled on a plan to make the ship's hull airtight and raise it using compressed air andpontoons. This required that the ship's coal, ammunition, and gun turrets be removed or cut loose, respectively, by divers to reduce her weight. A further complication was that the largestdrydock in Taranto had a maximum depth of only 12.2 meters (40 ft) and the upside-downLeonardo da Vinci drew 15.2 meters (50 ft). This meant that herfunnels had to be cut off as well.^[16]

All of this preparation required over two years and the ship was refloated on 17 September 1919. A deep channel had been dredged from her location to the drydock and she was moved there. A special wooden framework had to be built to support her, still inverted, after the water in the drydock had been drained.^[17] Her decks were not designed to handle the stresses involved in her unique situation and had to be reinforced to withstand the weight of the hull and preliminary repairs were made in preparation for righting her. A deep spot in the harbor was dredged for this task and some 400 long tons (410 t) ofballast were added in spots calculated to assist in the righting effort. The primary work was done by 7,500 long tons (7,600 t) of water pumped into the ship's starboard side^[17] and she was successfully righted on 24 January 1921.^[18] TheRegia Marina planned to modernizeLeonardo da Vinci by replacing her amidships turret with six 102-millimeter (4 in)anti-aircraft guns,^[2] but ultimately lacked the funds to do so and sold her for scrap on 22 March 1923.^[19]

• Allen, M. J. (1964). "The Loss & Salvage of theLeonardo da Vinci".Warship International.I (Reprint):23–26.ISSN 0043-0374.
• Caruana, Joseph, ed. (1973). "Question 20/73: The Loss of the Italian BattleshipLeonardo da Vinci".Warship International.X (4):426–427.ISSN 0043-0374.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290.ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
• Giorgerini, Giorgio (1980). "The Cavour & Duilio Class Battleships". In Roberts, John (ed.).Warship IV. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 267–279.ISBN 0-85177-205-6.
• Halpern, Paul G. (1995).A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-352-4.
• Hore, Peter (2005).Battleships. London: Lorenz Books.ISBN 0-7548-1407-6.
• McLaughlin, Stephen (2003).Russian & Soviet Battleships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-481-4.
• Preston, Antony (1972).Battleships of World War I: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Battleships of All Nations 1914–1918. New York: Galahad Books.ISBN 0-88365-300-1.
• Silverstone, Paul H. (1984).Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books.ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
• Whitley, M. J. (1998).Battleships of World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-184-X.

• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970).Italian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan.ISBN 978-0-7110-0105-3.
• Stille, Mark (2011).Italian Battleships of World War II. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.ISBN 978-1-84908-831-2.

• World War I Document Archive: Ship Photo Gallery
• A naïve ex-voto (votive painting playing the same role as a church ship in Italian culture) depicting the explosion on board the ship is in the chapel of Trecastagni (Sicily), donated by a sailor who "miraculously" escaped the blast.
• Leonardo da Vinci on the Marina Militare website

• Conte di Cavour-class battleships
• World War I battleships of Italy
• 1911 ships
• Maritime incidents in 1916
• Ships sunk by non-combat internal explosions
• Shipwrecks of Italy
• World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
• Ships built in Genoa
• Leonardo da Vinci

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