| abstract | - Amalfi was a Pisa-class armored cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy () built in the first decade of the 20th century. She was a participant in the Italo-Turkish War and the First World War before she was sunk in July 1915. The ship was the second of two ships of the Pisa class, which was designed in 1904. In the Italian classification system at the time of their building, the Pisa ships were considered second-class battleships. The lengthy construction of Amalfi began before her keel was laid in July 1905. The ship was launched in May 1908 and completed in September 1909. The ship was armed with four guns in two twin turrets, eight guns in four twin turrets, and numerous smaller guns. The ship was also equipped with three underwater torpedo tubes. Amalfi's armor thickness ranged from on the decks up to on her sides. During the Italo-Turkish War, Amalfi operated with the Italian fleet off Tripoli in September 1911 and participated in the amphibious landings at Derna in October. In April 1912, Amalfi and sister ship Pisa led the way in attacks on Turkish forts in the Dardanelles. After the rest of the fleet retired later in the month, the pair of armored cruisers remained in the area to attack Turkish communications facilities. After the Treaty of Lausanne signed in October 1912 ended the war, Amalfi escorted the Italian king and queen on the royal yacht to Germany and Sweden during a 1913 visit. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Italy declined to join her Triple Alliance partners, Germany and Austria-Hungary. The country was eventually persuaded to side with the Entente Powers and declared war on neighboring Austria-Hungary in May 1915. After the Austro-Hungarian Navy raided the Italian coast with relative impunity in May and June, Amalfi, Pisa, and two other armored cruisers were sent to Venice to thwart future sorties by the Austrians. Shortly after their arrival, the ships were sent—in a show of force—to patrol near the main Austrian naval base at Pola on the night of 6/7 July 1915. During Amalfi's return from that mission, she was torpedoed by Austria-Hungarian submarine (in fact flying the Austro-Hungarian flag, since Germany and Italy were not yet at war) and sunk with the loss of 67 men. Amalfi's loss caused the Italians to keep the other armored cruisers at Venice in port for most of the next year before they were eventually relocated.
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