02 happened May 1876: Scilla gunboat enters service

02/05/14

the Scilla gunboat of the homonymous class (two units) of 1076 t, built in the Castellammare di Stabia shipyard based on a design by the then director of 1a class of Genio Naval Benedetto Brin and launched at Naples in service under the command of the frigate captain Vincenzo Casamarte the 10 October 1874.

With a wooden hull, armed with three medium-caliber cannons, it was equipped with a steam engine powered by 835 hp powered by two boilers and with a speed of around 10 knots.

The units of the class were the fruit of a current of thought, much debated together with that of the defense of the coasts, which claimed to be the Navy's primary function the construction, in addition to the battle force, of cruise ships as useful tools for expansion colonial and the defense of national interests and prestige on the seas of the world.

Source: Military Navy