Carlo Alberto was the second of two Vettor Pisani-class armored cruisers built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) in the 1890s.

The ship was used as a royal yacht by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy in 1902, during which time she was used for radio experiments by Guglielmo Marconi.

[1] The main armament of the Vettor Pisani-class ships consisted of twelve quick-firing (QF) Cannone da 152/40 A Modello 1891 guns in single mounts.

All of these guns were mounted on the broadside, eight on the upper deck and four at the corners of the central citadel in armored casemates.

[6] Carlo Alberto served as the royal yacht for Victor Emmanuel III when he attended the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom in 1902.

Victor Emmanuel invited Guglielmo Marconi to accompany him and conduct radio experiments en route.

In the meantime, the ship took Victor Emmanuel to meetings with Tsar Nicholas II of Russia in Kronstadt.

She then ferried Marconi across the Atlantic to Glace Bay, Nova Scotia for further experiments transmitting radio messages across the ocean.

After 15 December, when Marconi successfully transmitted messages from Glace Bay to Poldhu,[8] Carlo Alberto was sent to Venezuelan waters during the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–03, when an international force of British, German, and Italian warships blockaded Venezuela over the country's refusal to pay foreign debts.

[10] She bombarded the fortifications defending Tripoli and provided gunfire support to Italian forces at Zanzur, Zuara and elsewhere in Tripolitania.