The Regia Marina was established on 17 March following the proclamation of the formation of the Kingdom of Italy. Just as the Kingdom was a unification of various states in the Italian peninsula , so the Regia Marina was formed from the navies of those states, though the main constituents were the navies of the former kingdoms of Sardinia and Naples. The new Navy inherited a substantial number of ships, both sail- and steam-powered, and the long naval traditions of its constituents, especially those of Sardinia and Naples, but also suffered from some major handicaps.
Firstly, it suffered from a lack of uniformity and cohesion; the Regia Marina was a heterogeneous mix of equipment, standards and practice, and even saw hostility between the officers from the various former navies. These problems were compounded by the continuation of separate officer schools at Genoa and Naples , and were not fully addressed until the opening of a unified Naval Academy at Livorno in Secondly, unification occurred during a period of rapid advances in naval technology and tactics, as typified by the launch of Gloire by France in , and later by the appearance of, and battle between, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia in These innovations quickly made older warships obsolete.
Italy did not possess the shipyards or infrastructure to build the modern ships required, but the then Minister for the Navy, Admiral Carlo di Persano , launched a substantial programme to purchase warships from foreign yards. The battle was fought against the Austrian Empire and occurred near the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea. That was one of the few fleet actions of the 19th century and as a major sea battle that involved ramming , it is often considered to have had a profound effect on subsequent warship design and tactics.
The Italian fleet, commanded by Admiral Persano, mustered 12 ironclad and 17 wooden-hulled ships, though only one, Affondatore , was of the most modern turret ship design.
Despite a marked disadvantage in numbers and equipment, superior handling by the Austrians under Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff resulted in a severe defeat for Italy, which lost two armoured ships and men.
