Regina Margherita was the lead ship of her class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Italian Regia Marina between 1898 and 1904.

[1] Her propulsion system consisted of two triple expansion steam engines that drove a pair of screw propellers.

[1] She was launched on 30 May 1901 in the presence of King Victor Emmanuel,[2] and completed three years later; she was commissioned into the Italian fleet on 14 April 1904.

[1] Work progressed slowly on the ship in large part due to non-delivery of material, particularly the heavy armor.

[6] The ships participated in the annual maneuvers in late September and early October as the flagship of Vice Admiral Alfonso di Brocchetti.

During the Italo-Turkish War Regina Mergherita was assigned to the 1st Division of the 2nd Squadron, along with her sister and the two Ammiraglio di Saint Bon-class battleships.

While they were doing this, Regina Margherita, Benedetto Brin, and two torpedo boats were detached to cut additional cables between Rhodes and Marmaris.

[11] In July, Regina Margherita and the rest of the division had withdrawn to Italy to replace worn-out gun barrels, along with other repairs.

The primary naval opponent for the duration of the war was the Austro-Hungarian Navy; the Naval Chief of Staff, Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, planned a distant blockade with the battle fleet, while smaller vessels, such as the MAS boats conducted raids.

[15] On the night of 11–12 December 1916, while sailing from the port of Valona in heavy sea conditions, she struck two mines laid by the German submarine SM UC-14 and blew up.

Lieutenant General Oreste Bandini, the commander of the Italian Albania Expeditionary Corps, was on the ship and was among those who were killed in the sinking.