The King of Italy (set up at the airport in August of the 1861 and launched the 18 April of the 1863) and the twin King of Portugal, the second and last unit of the class (under construction at the same Webb yard), were the first achievements of the program of renewal and development of the new Italian Navy wanted and planned by Cavour himself.
The two armored frigates belonged to the type derived from the French battleship Gloire: a wooden hull externally reinforced by wrought iron plates, battery-powered artillery covered with ruled soul pieces. Equipped with a pronounced spur (1,5 m) in cast iron, the engine apparatus, designed and built entirely in the United States, represented the best that the overseas industry of the time could produce. Of the displacement of 5600 t, propelled by an alternative 1845 hp engine powered by six boilers with a speed of just over 10 knots were equipped with a good autonomy; the armament, although with slight differences between the two units, was on 36 cannons of various caliber and the extended protection up to the buoyancy had the maximum thickness of 120 mm. The sail was on two square sail shafts and one on a mast for sail surface 1980 m2; the crew was of 565 men of which 25 officers.
In service the two ships were inferior to expectations for the insufficiently seasoned wooden hull, for the poor maneuverability and for the mediocre performance of the internal equipment, mainly the tractor and the steering apparatus.
[The crew (partly) was embarked on the King Galantuomo pirovascello in command of the vessel captain Ulisse Isola who had sailed from Naples on the 14 Monday of the same month. The same unit would have had to escort the King of Italy for the return journey, but this part of the mission cannot be completed due to delays in the preparation of the King of Italy who will be able to undertake navigation only in March next year transfer]
Source: Military Navy
