Condottieri-class light cruiser
Contents
Description
The Condottieri class was a group of 12 light cruisers built for the Regia Marina during World War II. These 12 light cruisers were divided into subvariants:
- Alberto di Giussano class (4 units)
- Luigi Cadorna class (2 units)
- Raimondo Montecuccoli class (2 units)
- Duca d'Aosta class (2 units)
- Duca degli Abruzzi class (2 units)
Vehicles
Rank III
- Alberto da Giussano class
- RN Bartolomeo Colleoni (1932)
Rank IV
- Raimondo Montecuccoli class
- RN Raimondo Montecuccoli (1943)
- Duca d'Aosta class
- RN Eugenio di Savoia (1943)
- ▂Kerch (1953) - (previously RN Duca d'Aosta)
Rank V
- Duca degli Abruzzi class
- RN Duca degli Abruzzi (1944)
Vehicles are listed in order of refit year, not build year
History
The Condottieri class was a grouping of 5 classes of Italian light cruisers, each class being different from the other in which technological development could be seen from the oldest Alberto di Giussano class to the new Duca degli Abbruzzi class.
Each class is named after the first ship in the group, and the classes are divided into:
- Alberto di Giussano-class
- Luigi Cadorna-class
- Raimondo Montecuccoli-class
- Duca D'Aosta-class
- Duca degli Abruzzi-class
Alberto di Giussano-class
The Condottieri class cruisers of the Alberto di Giussano type, designed and built for exploration missions and hunting enemy destroyers, were initially classified as 'Large Explorers', then as Light Cruisers.
Since this type of cruiser was designed to explore vast areas of sea and hunt down french destroyers, they were modified to have good speed at sea, but this made them less armoured, in fact, during test sailings and battles the hull suffered much damage; during World War II the hull was reinforced, but in the same war all cruisers of this type were lost.
Instead of building more cruisers of this type, the design was revised with new and better ones, which led to the creation of the Luigi Cadorna type.
Ship name | Builder | Laid down | Launch | Commissioning | Fate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RN Alberto di Giussano | Ansaldo | 29 March 1928 | 27 March 1930 | 5 February 1931 | 13 December 1941 | Sunk by 2 torpedoes of HMS Maori |
RN Alberico da Barbiano | Ansaldo | 16 April 1928 | 23 August
1930 |
9 June 1931 | 13 December 1941 | Sunk by HMS Sikh, HMS Legion and HMS Maori |
RN Bartolomeo Colleoni | Ansaldo | 21 June 1928 | 21 December
1930 |
10 February 1932 | 19 July 1940 | Sunk by various British Destroyers and HMAS Sydney |
RN Giovanni delle Bande Nere | Castellammare di Stabia | 31 October 1928 | 27 April 1930 | 1 January 1931 | 1 April 1942 | Sunk by HMS Urge (N17) |
Luigi Cadorna-class
During construction, it became evident that the first four light cruisers (Alberto di Giussano-class) were too fragile, so the Regia Marina began to design an improved version that was named Luigi Cadorna, whose improvements were hull stability and strength, and a new catapult for aircraft.
The main armament still consisted of eight 152/53 cannons but these belonged to the new 1929 model and were installed on larger towers than the previous ones.
The secondary armament consisted of 6 pieces of 100/47 positioned between the 2 funnels in 3 twin installations, while the anti-aircraft armament at the outbreak of war had 8 single 20mm and 4 twin 13.2mm emplacements and at the end still retained 2 twin torpedo launchers and could carry between 84 and 138 naval mines, depending on the model.
In particular, the Cadorna was modified in 1943, with an aircraft catapult with 2 twin 20mm emplacements; the following year the torpedoes were removed
Ship name | Builder | Laid down | Launch | Commissioning | Fate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RN Luigi Cadorna | C.R.D.A. | 19 September 1930 | 30 September 1931 | 11 August 1933 | 1951 | Broken up in 1953 |
RN Armando Diaz | O.T.O. | 28 July 1930 | 10 July 1932 | 29 April 1933 | 25 February 1941 | Sunk by HMS Upright (N89) |
Raimondo Montecuccoli-class
Ship name | Builder | Laid down | Launch | Commissioning | Fate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RN Raimondo Montecuccoli | Ansaldo | 1 October 1931 | 2 August 1934 | 30 June 1935 | 31 May 1964 | Broken up in 1972 |
RN Muzio Attendolo | C.R.D.A. | 10 April 1933 | 9 September 1934 | 7 August 1935 | 2 December 1942 | Sunk by U.S. bombers, wreck broken up in 18 October 1946 |
Duca D'Aosta-class
Ship name | Builder | Laid down | Launch | Commissioning | Fate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RN Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta /
Z-15 Kerch |
O.T.O. | 29 October 1932 | 22 April 1934 | 13 July 1935 | 2 March 1949 | War repatriation to Soviet Navy. Decommissioned on 20 February 1959 and broken up in 1961. |
RN Eugenio di Savoia /
C-24 Elli II |
Ansaldo | 6 July 1933 | 16 March 1935 | 16 January 1936 | 26 June 1951 | War repatriation to Hellenic Navy (Greece). Broken up in 1973. |
Duca degli Abruzzi-class
Ship name | Builder | Laid down | Launch | Commissioning | Fate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RN Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abbruzzi | O.T.O. | 28 December 1933 | 21 April 1936 | 1 December 1937 | 1961 | Broken up in 1965 |
RN Giuseppe Garibaldi | C.R.D.A. | 28 December 1933 | 21 April 1936 | 20 December 1937 | 16 November 1976 | Broken up in September 1978 |
Sources
- [Marina Militare] Alberto Da Giussano
- [Marina Militare] Alberico da Barbiano
- [Marina Militare] Bartolomeo Colleoni
- [Marina Militare] Giovanni dalle Bande Nere
- [Marina Militare] Luigi Cadorna
- [Marina Militare] Armando Diaz
- [Marina Militare] Raimondo Montecuccoli
- [Marina Militare] Muzio Attendolo
- [Marina Militare] Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta
- [Marina Militare] Eugenio di Savoia
- [Marina Militare] Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi
- [Marina Militare] Giuseppe Garibaldi
Italy light cruisers | |
---|---|
Condottieri-class | RN Bartolomeo Colleoni · RN Raimondo Montecuccoli · RN Eugenio di Savoia · RN Duca degli Abruzzi |
Capitani Romani-class | RN Attilio Regolo |
Etna-class | RN Etna |
USSR light cruisers | |
---|---|
Imperial Russia | |
Svetlana-class | Krasny Krym* · Krasny Kavkaz* |
* Laid down by Imperial Russian Navy; Finished and renamed by the USSR | |
Project | Soviet Union |
Pr.26 | Kirov · Voroshilov · Maxim Gorky |
Pr.68 | Chapayev · Zheleznyakov |
Pr.68-bis | Sverdlov · Mikhail Kutuzov |
Pr.68-bis-ZiF | Shcherbakov |
Trophies | Italy |
Condottieri-class | Kerch |