Faà di Bruno was an Italian Monitor built in 1917. Fitted with 2 15" guns, 6 AA guns, and with 1.5 inches of deck armour and 9 feet of concrete surrounding her hull, she reached a whopping 3.3 knots or 6.1 km/h during sea trials.

The Faà di Bruno participated in bombarding Austro-Hungarian positions to little noticeable effect during the 11th Battle of the Isonzo in August 1917 and was run aground in November after the cables connecting her to her tug broke.

Removed from service in 1924, she was placed back in service at the start of WW2 as the floating battery GM 194 and fired a full 3 shots at the British before the cable that provided electrical power to her guns was damaged by enemy fire. She was later captured by the Germans and was finally scrapped in 1946.



TDLR; They slapped a 15" gun on a crane pontoon and called it a monitor



For this build, I used plans and photos of the ship as reference. Due to some conflicts between the plans and photos, some details may vary. It appears that model builders have had similar problems, as models from the ship vary significantly in shape and armament.