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Italian Battleship Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian Battleship Leonardo Da Vinci

The third of the Conte di Cavour-class battleships, Leonardo da Vinci was launched on14 October 1911 and commissioned into the Italian Regia Marina on 17 May 1914. She saw no action during the First World War and was sunk by internal explosion on 2 August 1916. Italy blamed the loss on Austro-Hungarian saboteurs although the loss may have been accidental.

The wreck was refloated and righted, but plans to refurbish her were cancelled due to budgetary constraints. The hulk was sold for scrap in 1923.

Displacement23,088 long tons (23,458 t) (standard)
25,086 long tons (25,489 t) (deep load)
Length176 m (577 ft 5 in) (o/a)
Beam28 m (91 ft 10 in)
Draft9.3 m (30 ft 6 in)
Installed power20 × water-tube boilers
31,000 shp (23,000 kW)
Propulsion4 × shafts; 3 × steam turbine sets
Speed21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph)
Range4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement31 officers and 969 enlisted men
Armament3 × triple, 2 × twin 305 mm (12 in) guns
18 × single 120 mm (4.7 in) guns
14 × single 76.2 mm (3 in) guns
3 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
ArmorWaterline belt: 80–250 mm (3.1–9.8 in)
Deck: 24–40 mm (0.94–1.57 in)
Gun turrets: 240–280 mm (9.4–11.0 in)
Barbettes: 130–230 mm (5.1–9.1 in)
Conning tower: 280 mm (11 in)

Leonardo Da Vinci Being Refloated

Italian Heavy Cruiser Fiume

Fiume undergoing speed trials

Italian Heavy Cruiser Fiume

Fiume was the second of the Zara-class heavy cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina (along with her sisters Zara, Pola and Gorizia). She was launched on 27 April 1930 and commissioned on 23 November 1931.

During the Second World War, Fiume was engaged with convoy escort and intercepting British convoys. She participated in the Battle of Calabria (July 1940) and the Battle of Cape Spartivento (November 1940). During the Battle of Cape Matapan, Fiume, Zara and four destroyers were ordered to protect Pola which had been disabled by a torpedo. During the night, they were surprised by a force of three British battleships (HMS Warspite, Valiant and Barham). All three heavy cruisers and two of the destroyers were sunk.

Italian Heavy Cruiser Gorizia

Gorizia on May 5, 1938

Italian Heavy Cruiser Gorizia

Gorizia was the third member of the Zara-class heavy cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina. Launched on 28 December 1930, she was commissioned on 31 December 1931. As with her sisters (Zara, Fiume and Pola) she was nominally within the 10,000 ton limit of the Washington Treaty, however she displaced significantly more than this.

On the 19th of August 1936 while steaming from Tangiers to Italy Gorizia suffered an explosion in her forward aviation fuel tank causing significant damage. She altered course for Gibraltar where temporary repairs were made before returning to Italy.

During World War Two, Gorizia took part in the Battles of Calabria on (9 July 1940), Cape Spartivento (27 November 1940). During the British attack on Taranto during the night of 11/12 November 1940, but was not targeted although her anti-aircraft guns shot down a British bomber. She was undergoing regular maintenance during the Battle of Cape Matapan where her three sisters were sunk.

An Allied air attack on the port of Messina on 21 November 1941 caused extensive damage to Gorizia’s superstructure from bomb splinters, though she nevertheless sortied that day to escort a convoy to North Africa. On 16 and 17 December, while on another convoy escort mission, she took part in the First Battle of Sirte against a force of British light cruisers and destroyers.

On 22 March 1942, she took part in the Second Battle of Sirte, where she was heavily engaged with British light cruisers and destroyers although she did not suffer any damage. While at the port of La Maddalena on 10 April 1943, Gorizia was attacked by US and hit three times causing serious damage. Gorizia entered dry dock on 4 May 1943 for repairs and was still there when Italy surrender in September. Although seized by Germany, no further use was made of her due to her condition. She was floated out of the dry dock and anchored in the harbour. On the night of 21–22 June 1944, British and Italian frogmen used Chariot manned torpedoes to infiltrate the harbor to sink Gorizia and Bolzano to prevent the Germans from using them as blockships; while the commandos did sink Bolzano, they were unsuccessful with Gorizia. She remained afloat and heavily listing in April 1945, when Allied forces liberated La Spezia. Judged to be too badly damaged to repair, the postwar navy decided to discard the ship. She was accordingly stricken from the naval register on 27 February 1947 and broken up for scrap