[1] Designed by Philip Watts and Herbert Rowell, and constructed in Elswick's Tyneside yard in the United Kingdom, the two gunboats were disassembled and shipped to Italy for reassembly in the Armstrong facility at Pozzuoli,[1] proving to be the only ships constructed there after the Italian government cancelled the shipyard project.

[1] It is uncertain whether the vessels were designed as testbeds for heavy guns, or were intended from the outset as operational gunboats.

[1] Built to a design calling for a length of 115 feet (35 m) and a beam of 37 feet (11 m), giving them a length to beam ratio of 3.1:1, they displaced 667 long tons (678 t) under normal conditions, and were powered by two steam engines, driving a pair of propellers that gave a speed of around 8 knots (15 km/h).

[1] As constructed, both vessels were armed with a single, massive Krupp 40-centimetre (16-inch), 32-caliber cannon mounted on the stern, that could be elevated to an angle of 13 degrees, firing a 1,980-pound (900 kg) shell.

[1] In 1904, she was reclassified again as a minelayer,[2] and served in that role until late 1915 when she was designated as a torpedo testing craft.