Italian cruiser Etna Italian cruiser Etna Etna was a protected cruiser of the Italian "Regia Marina" (Royal Navy) built in the 1880s. She was the lead ship of the , which included three sister ships. Named for Mount Etna on the island of Sicily, the ship was laid down in January 1883, was launched in September 1885, and was completed in December 1887. She was armed with a main battery of two and six guns, and could steam at a speed of around . "Etna" frequently cruised abroad throughout her career, including visits to the United States for the World's Columbian Exposition and
Mount Etna historical times reveals that only 77 human deaths are attributable with certainty to eruptions of Etna, most recently in 1987 when two tourists were killed by a sudden explosion near the summit. A large lava flow from an eruption in 1928 led to the destruction of a population centre for the first time since the 1669 eruption. The eruption started high on Etna's northeast flank on 2 November. Then new eruptive fissures opened at decreasing elevations down the flank of the volcano. The third and most vigorous of these fissures opened late on 4 November at an unusually low elevation,