Pisa and Amalfi had the speed and gunpower to be capable Mediterranean ships, even if their endurance was fitted to a regional rather than oceanic war. Their service included the Italo-Turkish War, blockade and landing support in Libya, and bombardment of Dardanelles defences before the First World War. The Ottoman fortifications struck in 1912 had not been substantially improved before the later Allied Dardanelles attack. Georgios Averof, a related Greek ship, served through the National Schism and Greco-Turkish War before becoming a long-lived ceremonial presence. Its attendance at both the 1911 and 1937 coronation reviews let George VI turn seniority into a joke and an act of naval diplomacy.
Chapter · 1:50:17-1:57:30
Pisa, Amalfi, and Georgios Averof in Mediterranean service
The Italian Pisa class and Greece's Georgios Averof demonstrate the useful shore-support and regional-presence roles that survived the class's decline.