The RN Bartolomeo Colleoni was the third ship of Di Giussano-subclass laid down in 21 June 1928 and commissioned in 10 February 1932. Her first combat deployment was during the Spanish Civil War where she protected Italian forces in October 1936. The beginning of WW2 caught her in protecting Italian interests in the Far East, and she was recalled to Sicily, from where she unsuccessfully attempted to intercept French and British forces, as well as conducted minelaying and convoy escort duties. At 08:24 of 19 July 1940, she received her first hit - in the encounter that was later to be known as the Battle of Cape Spada. A salvo from Leander-class HMAS Sydney hit the ship, jamming her rudder. Soon after, another salvo hit the bridge, killing most of the crew, and the main superstructure causing numerous fires. As she started losing her speed, British H-class destroyers disabled two boilers, forcing the captain of the vessel to give the order to abandon ship at 08:30, a mere 6 minutes after receiving her first hit. Moments later, the vessel was sunk by two British torpedoes, causing her to capsize and sink, bow-first.
Introduced in Update "Starfighters" along with the first wave of Italian vessels, RN Bartolomeo Colleoni trades most characteristics for speed, making her excellent in capturing points and countering torpedo boats or low-BR destroyers, but completely unfit to deal with heavy cruisers, or even most light cruisers. She is best played as a support vessel, carefully planning position and targets to engage. When possible, hard cover or smoke should be used to break contact.