Italian corvette Cristoforo Colombo (1875)

The ship was laid down on 1 February 1873 in the Venice Naval Yard, and her completed hull was launched on 17 September 1875. Fitting out was completed by 16 November 1876.^[1] The ship went on a long-distance cruise in 1878, sailing as far as Australia and New Guinea.^[4] On 6 March 1879, she towed the Italian brig San Guiseppe in to Gibraltar. The brig had been severely damaged in a storm in the Atlantic Ocean on 19 February.^[5] In June 1880, Cristoforo Colombo visited Kiel, Germany, where she met the main German ironclad squadron.^[6]

The ship cruised in East Asian waters in the mid-1880s, departing from home waters in late 1883. She passed through Aden in early December and proceeded to Singapore, where she rendezvoused with the screw corvette Caracciolo, which had been cruising in Australian waters. The two ships then sailed north to China, where they patrolled the area to protect Italian nationals in the event of a conflict.^[7] On 5 April 1884, Cristoforo Colombo accidentally ran aground on the Quemoy Bank off Amoy in heavy fog, but her crew was able to free the ship at high tide. The vessel was not damaged in the accident.^[8] By July, Caracciolo had departed, though the corvette Vettor Pisani had been sent to join Cristoforo Colombo on the China station. At that time, tensions between China and France were high, and Italy and other foreign powers were concerned that the outbreak of a conflict between the two would threaten their nationals in China. Cristoforo Colombo was stationed in Shanghai, where her captain, Captain Accini, concluded agreements with the commanders of the United States gunboat USS Monocacy and the British corvette HMS Cleopatra to coordinate the defense of the city. Accini, as the most senior officer of the three, was placed in command of the proposed arrangement. At the start of the Sino-French War in August, both countries agreed to a limited area of hostilities, and Shanghai was in the neutral region, so the defense agreement was not put into effect.^[9]

Cristoforo Colombo was eventually discarded by the Regia Marina in 1891, though her ultimate fate is unknown. The following year, the ship was replaced by a steel-hulled vessel of the same name, which was also designed by Brin, and was in most respects identical to the original Cristoforo Colombo^[10][11]

• Brassey, Thomas (1882). The British Navy: Its Strength, Resources, and Administration. Vol. I. London: Longmans, Green & Co. OCLC 162877791.
• China: A Collection of Correspondence and Papers Relating to Chinese Affairs. London: Harrison & Sons. 1885. OCLC 894534063.
• Cresciani, Gianfranco (2003). The Italians in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521537780.
• "Cristoforo Colombo: Incrociatore avviso" [Cristoforo Colombo: Cruiser Aviso]. marina.difesa.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
• Events in Hongkong and the Far East, 1875 to 1884. Hong Kong: Daily Press. 1885. OCLC 244970307.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1979). "Italy". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 334–359. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Marshall, Chris, ed. (1995). The Encyclopedia of Ships: The History and Specifications of Over 1200 Ships. Enderby: Blitz Editions. ISBN 1-85605-288-5.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence (1997). Preparing for Weltpolitik: German Sea Power Before the Tirpitz Era. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-745-7.