R.S. Libertas

R.S. Libertas was a Royal Navy destroyer, laid in 1899, launched in 1901 and commissioned in 1902. Libertas, along sister ship R.S. Iustitia, were the newest ships in the Royal Navy during the Great War. Libertas was sunk in Italy in 1915.

History
Libertas was due to be retrofitted in La Spezia in 1915, but prior to doing so was sent on tour to Venice and Rimini. In early June she was forced to remain in Rimini due to rudder issues, where it was decided to do the retrofit there. By then Italy had joined the war on the side of the entente, same as with Brunant on 4 June.

On 16 June 1915, Austro-Hungarian ship SMS Sankt Georg and other smaller ships began shelling Rimini in a surprise attack. The docked Libertas fired back as best it could but was sunk in the harbor as a shell hit the bow and caused a minor munitions explosion.