View source for RN Conte di Cavour

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|code=it_battleship_conte_di_cavour
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg}}
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== Description ==
<!-- ''In the first part of the description, cover the history of the ship's creation and military application. In the second part, tell the reader about using this ship in the game. Add a screenshot: if a beginner player has a hard time remembering vehicles by name, a picture will help them identify the ship in question.'' -->
The '''RN Conte di Cavour''', lead ship of the [[Conte di Cavour (Family)|Conte di Cavour-class battleships]], was laid down on 10 August 1910, launched on 10 August 1911, and completed and delivered to the Regia Marina on 1 April 1915. On 24 May 1915, she became the flagship of Vice-Admiral Luigi Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta. During WWI, she did not participate in active missions, due to the passive policy adopted by the Italian and Austrian navies, spending 966 hours in exercises and only 40 hours in three bloodless war actions. From 1933 to 1937, she was modernised by the CRDA shipyards in Trieste, retaining only 40% of the original construction; in particular, the amidships turret was removed, while the remaining 305 mm cannons were increased to 320 mm. Additionally, engine power was increased to 93,000 hp.

She re-entered service on 1 June 1937 and was deployed to Taranto where she was at the outbreak of WW2. On 9 July 1940, she took part in the Battle of Punta Stilo, the first battleship engagement between the Regia Marina and the British Mediterranean Fleet. She was partially sunk by a torpedo dropped from a British torpedo bomber during the attack on the naval base of Taranto on the night of 11-12 November 1940. The salvage work lasted until the end of 1941 when she was towed to Trieste for restoration work, but she never returned to service and on 8 September 1943 was abandoned in the port of Trieste. On 10 September 1943, she was captured by the Germans but was abandoned by them and sunk during the bombardment of Trieste on 15 February 1945 by the Allies. She was finally struck off the state naval register on 27 February 1947.

Introduced in [[Update "Kings of Battle"]] in her uncompleted 1943-1944 refit, the main armament of '''{{Specs|1=name}}''' is quite good, able to inflict damage effectively with her SAP shells. When using the AP, remember to target weak points to maximize damage. The secondary armament is also not bad, as the 135 mm cannons can damage battleships and cruisers, and can be effective in sinking destroyers. The anti-aircraft armament consists of 65 mm and 20 mm cannons, perfect for medium and long range targets. Conte di Cavour's survivability and manoeuvrability are both good, for a battleship of her size.

== General info ==
=== Survivability and armour ===
{{Specs-Fleet-Armour}}
<!-- ''Talk about the vehicle's armour. Note the most well-defended and most vulnerable zones, e.g. the ammo magazine. Evaluate the composition of components and assemblies responsible for movement and manoeuvrability. Evaluate the survivability of the primary and secondary armaments separately. Don't forget to mention the size of the crew, which plays an important role in fleet mechanics. Save tips on preserving survivability for the "Usage in battles" section. If necessary, use a graphical template to show the most well-protected or most vulnerable points in the armour.'' -->
Conte di Cavour has a distributed armor scheme, where the maximum armor thickness is unimpressive but there is armor protecting the entire length of the ship. This distributed armor is quite effective against cruiser-caliber fire, though there are significantly more factors to take into account when fighting other capital ships.

Conte di Cavour’s belt armor has a maximal thickness of 350 mm, though this thickness is unfortunately found under the waterline and thus can only protect against underwater shots. Moreover, the 350 mm belt does extend far enough to cover any of the bow-most ammunition magazines; the belt tapers to 80 mm at the stern and 100 mm in the bow, connecting to a 30 mm icebreaker. Above the lowest strip of belt armor, a 220 mm situated at the waterline protects the midship including the barbette areas, then tapers down to the same armor values as the lower belt. Moving up to the deck, the upper belt decreases to 130 mm, then finally a 110 mm layer of armor. All of this armor is effective against cruisers, but is not immediately capable of stopping battleship-caliber rounds.

While the belt armor is mediocre compared to other battleships, Cavour does have good internal armor which increases her survivability. Cavour has a 45 mm turtleback armor layer protecting the entire citadel, including the engines and main gun magazines. Directly above the turtleback, there is also a flat 72 mm strip that further protects the midship from gunfire. Cavour’s internal armor allows her to take a beating from her contemporaries (though this should not be mistaken for invincibility, particularly when facing 15-inch (381 mm) and 16-inch (406 mm) guns).

Cavour has a relatively thin 130 mm layer of armor protecting the fore and aft transverse bulkheads. That being said, when the Cavour is angled, the transverse bulkhead armor can stop some shells in conjunction with the icebreaker and stern armor.

While Cavour lacks innate torpedo protection (which would be listed on the stat card), Cavour includes the infamous Pugliese torpedo defense system, modeled as internal fuel tanks in War Thunder. These fuel tanks offer some protection against torpedoes, though repeated impacts or high powered torpedoes like the Japanese Type 93 will penetrate the Cavour’s defense.

The vertical protection of the Cavour is good, with deck armor of above 40 mm and a second, lower deck layer of 80 and 100 mm armor above the engines and main gun magazines, respectively. Cavour’s vertical armor is thus generally effective against aerial attacks, though powerful bombs can still punch through her deck armor.

=== Mobility ===
{{Specs-Fleet-Mobility}}
<!-- ''Write about the ship's mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward and reverse speed.'' -->
''Write about the ship's mobility. Evaluate its power and manoeuvrability, rudder rerouting speed, stopping speed at full tilt, with its maximum forward and reverse speed.''

{{NavalMobility}}

=== Modifications and economy ===
{{Specs-Economy}}

== Armament ==
{{Specs-Fleet-Armaments}}
=== Primary armament ===
{{Specs-Fleet-Primary}}
<!-- ''Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: <code><nowiki>{{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}</nowiki></code>. Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.'' -->
{{main|320 mm/44 OTO model 1934 (320 mm)}}

''Provide information about the characteristics of the primary armament. Evaluate their efficacy in battle based on their reload speed, ballistics and the capacity of their shells. Add a link to the main article about the weapon: <code><nowiki>{{main|Weapon name (calibre)}}</nowiki></code>. Broadly describe the ammunition available for the primary armament, and provide recommendations on how to use it and which ammunition to choose.''

{{:320 mm/44 OTO model 1934 (320 mm)/Ammunition|320 mm Granata Perforante, 320 mm APHEBC Palla}}

=== Secondary armament ===
{{Specs-Fleet-Secondary}}
<!-- ''Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. Secondary armaments are defined as weapons chosen with the control <code>Select secondary weapon</code>. Evaluate the secondary armaments and give advice on how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that any anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section. If there is no secondary armament, remove this section.'' -->
{{main|135 mm/45 O.T.O. Mod. 1937 (135 mm)}}

''Some ships are fitted with weapons of various calibres. Secondary armaments are defined as weapons chosen with the control <code>Select secondary weapon</code>. Evaluate the secondary armaments and give advice on how to use them. Describe the ammunition available for the secondary armament. Provide recommendations on how to use them and which ammunition to choose. Remember that any anti-air armament, even heavy calibre weapons, belong in the next section. If there is no secondary armament, remove this section.''

{{:135 mm/45 O.T.O. Mod. 1937 (135 mm)/Ammunition|135 mm HE Dirompente, 135 mm APHEBC Perforante, 135 mm HE-TF Contro-aerea}}

=== Anti-aircraft armament ===
{{Specs-Fleet-AA}}
<!-- ''An important part of the ship's armament responsible for air defence. Anti-aircraft armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control <code>Select anti-aircraft weapons</code>. Talk about the ship's anti-air cannons and machine guns, the number of guns and their positions, their effective range, and about their overall effectiveness – including against surface targets. If there are no anti-aircraft armaments, remove this section.'' -->
{{main|65 mm/64 Ansaldo-Terni Mod.1939 (65 mm)|20 mm/65 Breda (20 mm)}}

''An important part of the ship's armament responsible for air defence. Anti-aircraft armament is defined by the weapon chosen with the control <code>Select anti-aircraft weapons</code>. Talk about the ship's anti-air cannons and machine guns, the number of guns and their positions, their effective range, and about their overall effectiveness – including against surface targets. If there are no anti-aircraft armaments, remove this section.''

== Usage in battles ==
<!-- ''Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don't try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).'' -->
''Describe the technique of using this ship, the characteristics of her use in a team and tips on strategy. Abstain from writing an entire guide – don't try to provide a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought. Talk about the most dangerous opponents for this vehicle and provide recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of playing with this vehicle in various modes (AB, RB, SB).''

=== Pros and cons ===
<!-- ''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".'' -->
''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".''

'''Pros:'''

*

'''Cons:'''

*

== History ==
<!-- ''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ship in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the ship and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' -->
=== Devblog History ===
After the London Naval Treaty, Italy decided to strengthen its battle fleet. For external and internal reasons, the creation of a new class was abandoned in favor of the decision to comprehensively modify two existing ships — battleships Conte di Cavour and Giulio Cesare. The Conte di Cavour — the lead ship of the series built in 1911 — was redesigned by 60-70%, with work on the ship completed in 1937. With the outbreak of hostilities of World War II, she took part in the Battle of Calabria. In November she was attacked by Swordfish torpedo aircraft in the port of Taranto and went down from a direct hit from a torpedo to the side. She was raised in July 1941 and after being towed to Trieste, she was not put into service and did not take part in any further battles. In 1943 she was captured by the Germans, and in February 1945 was lost to Allied bombing.

== Media ==
<!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' -->

;Skins

* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=it_battleship_conte_di_cavour Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]

== See also ==
<!-- ''Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''
* ''reference to the series of the ship;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.'' -->
''Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''

* ''reference to the series of the ship;''
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''

== External links ==
<!-- ''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
* ''other literature.'' -->

* [[wt:en/news/8560-development-rn-conte-di-cavour-a-challenge-for-the-bravest-en|[Devblog] RN Conte di Cavour: A Challenge For The Bravest]]

{{ShipManufacturer La Spezia}}
{{Italy battleships}}