Italian cruiser Saetta (original) (raw)

Saetta was a Folgore-class torpedo cruiser built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the 1880s. Armed with three 14 in (356 mm) torpedo tubes and six light guns, she was capable of a top speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph). She was built in the mid-1880s, was launched in May 1887, and was completed in February 1888. Saetta spent the first decade of her career serving in the main Italian fleet, where she conducted peacetime training exercises. In 1897, she was withdrawn from front-line service and employed as a gunnery training ship, a role she filled for another decade. The Regia Marina ultimately sold Saetta for scrap in May 1908.