NAVYPEDIA

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Vesuvius

Ships

No	Name	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comm	Fate
	Vesuvius		Cramp, Philadelphia	9/1887	28.4.1888	7.6.1890	experimental torpedo vessel 1898, sold 4.1922

Technical data

Displacement normal, t	929
Displacement full, t
Length, m	76.9
Breadth, m	8.06
Draught, m	2.74 mean
No of shafts	2
Machinery	VTE, 4 cylindrical boilers
Power, h. p.	3200
Max speed, kts	20
Fuel, t	coal 152
Endurance, nm(kts)
Armour, mm	steel; CT: 25
Armament	3 - 381/44 Zalinsky pneumatic guns, 3 x 1 - 47/40 Hotchkiss Mk I
Complement	70

Standard scale images

Graphics

Project history

Authorized under the Act of 3.8.1886 as a 'dynamite-gun cruiser'; a second such ship authorized under the Act of 2.3.1889 was never built. The 381mm Zalinsky pneumatic gun was 16.8m long and the full calibre shell weighed 445kg with a 227kg dynamite warhead. The range was 1500-1600m, but three times this could be reached with sub-calibre shells. In Vesuvius the guns were fixed at 18° elevation and trained by moving ship. A total of 30 shells was carried.

Ship protection

CT was protected by 25mm plating.

Modernizations

1898: - 3 - 381/44; + TTs

Naval service

She bombarded Santiago in 1898 but accuracy was very poor, and the pneumatic guns were later removed, and Vesuvius used as an experimental torpedo vessel.