Set on behalf of the Sardinian Navy in the 1861 in the Foce shipyard, launched the 10 1864 august and the displacement of 2182 t, was a three armed masts equipped with a steam engine apparatus capable of imparting a speed of 9 knots and armed with 20 cannons in covered battery.
It was not a state-of-the-art unit and the long stay at the airport (five years) was solely due to the uncertainty about the future of traditional wooden ships.
Source: Military Navy