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Duilio-class ironclad
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<p>The <i>Duilio</i> class was a pair of <a href="/facts/Ironclad/woAQJfj3">ironclad</a> <a href="/facts/Turret_ship/V4qR21Eq">turret ships</a> built for the <a href="/facts/Royal_Italian_Navy/qqqEznH8">Royal Italian Navy</a> (<i>Regia Marina</i>) in the 1870s and 1880s. The two ships, <a href="/facts/Italian_ironclad_Duilio/3IouJbQc"><i>Duilio</i></a> and <a href="/facts/Italian_ironclad_Enrico_Dandolo/wWJC5Lnw"><i>Enrico Dandolo</i></a>, were fitted with the largest guns available, <a href="/facts/RML_17.72_inch_gun/XeJlwuEn">450 mm (17.7 in)</a> <a href="/facts/Muzzle-loading_rifle/kk1fHAHk">rifled muzzle-loading guns</a>, and were the largest, fastest and most powerful ships of their day. To save weight on such large vessels, the ship's designer, <a href="/facts/Benedetto_Brin/x7qmLLo3">Benedetto Brin</a> adopted a radical solution for the time: he reserved armor only for the central portion of the ship where it protected the ships' engines and ammunition magazines, while the rest of the hull were extensively sub-divided with <a href="/facts/Watertight_compartment/70PjPGtf">watertight compartments</a>. </p><p>Both ships had uneventful careers. They spent the majority of their time in service with the Active and Reserve Squadrons of the main Italian fleet. There, they were primarily occupied with conducting training exercises. In 1895–1898, <i>Enrico Dandolo</i> was heavily reconstructed, but the excessive cost of the modernization prevented <i>Duilio</i> from being similarly rebuilt. Both ships were reassigned as <a href="/facts/Training_ship/7fjjDXnH">training ships</a> in the early to mid-1900s. <i>Duilio</i> was stricken from the <a href="/facts/Naval_register/0vb4WJQA">naval register</a> in 1909 and converted into a floating oil tank, while <i>Enrico Dandolo</i> remained in service as a <a href="/facts/Guard_ship/Toj9fC38">guard ship</a> during <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>. She was sent to the <a href="/facts/Ship_breaking/qh49CobX">breaker's yard</a> in 1920. <i>Duilio</i>'s ultimate fate is unknown. </p>