Armo 700-43 Affondatore 1862 - Armoured Ram of the Regia Marina

The Affondatore was an Italian, mid-nineteenth-century armored steam-powered ram. The keel for the vessel was laid in 1863, and its launch took place in 1865. Entry into service in the Regia Marina took place in 1866. The total length of the ship was 93.9 meters and a width of 12.2 meters. Full displacement reached about 4,300 tons, and the maximum speed - at the time of launching - to about 12 knots. The Affondatore was built to an Italian order at the British Harrison shipyard in Millwall. The ship's design was the work of the Italian officer Simone Antonio Saint-Bon. The original project was to create an unarmed battering ram, but during construction, the ship received additional armament in the form of four guns. Despite the fact that the ship was not yet fully completed, it was received by the Italians before the work was completed and managed to take part in the Battle of Lissa in 1866. Shortly after that battle, possibly as a result of the damage it sustained, it sank, but it was lifted from the bottom and rebuilt in 1867-1873. The unit remained in service until 1907.