Italian battleship Leonardo da Vinci

Postcard of Leonardo da Vinci in Taranto
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 and type	Conte di Cavour-class battleship
Displacement	23,088 long 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	21.6 knots (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 × twin 305 mm (12 in) guns 18 × single 120 mm (4.7 in) guns 14 × single 76.2 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 three Conte di Cavour-class dreadnoughts built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) in the early 1910s. Completed just before the beginning of World War I, the ship saw no action and was sunk by a magazine explosion in 1916 with the loss of 248 officers and enlisted men. The Italians blamed Austro-Hungarian saboteurs for her loss, but it may have been accidental. Leonardo da Vinci was refloated in 1919 and plans were made to repair her. Budgetary constraints did not permit this, and her hulk was sold for scrap in 1923.