Conte Verde was the third of three Principe di Carignano-class ironclads built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy), though she differed in several respects from her sisters.

Her career was limited, owing to the emergence of more modern ironclads and a severe reduction in the Italian naval budget following their defeat at the Battle of Lissa in 1866.

Her engine produced a top speed of 10.2 knots (18.9 km/h; 11.7 mph) from 1,968 indicated horsepower (1,468 kW), making her the fastest member of her class.

[4] In addition, the Italian government lost confidence in the fleet after its defeat in 1866 at the Battle of Lissa and drastically reduced the naval budget.

The cuts were so severe that the fleet had great difficulty in mobilizing its ironclad squadron to attack the port of Civitavecchia in September 1870, as part of the wars of Italian unification.

[2] The Navy discarded both of her sisters, along with the ironclad Re di Portogallo between 1875 and 1880 to remove the cost of maintaining them from the naval budget, as part of an effort to reduce the financial impact of the new Duilio and Italia-classes then under construction.