Giussano-class cruiser

Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice
Class overview
Name:	Giussano class
Operators:	Regia Marina
Built:	1928–1930
In commission:	1931–1942
Completed:	4
Lost:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Cruiser
Displacement:	6,570 tonnes (6,470 long tons) standard 6,954 tonnes (6,844 long tons) full load
Length:	169.3 m (555 ft)
Beam:	15.5 m (51 ft)
Draft:	5.3 m (17 ft)
Propulsion:	95,000 hp (71,000 kW)
Speed:	37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph) (42 knots (78 km/h; 48 mph) in trials)
Range:	3,800 nmi (7,000 km) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement:	507
Armament:	8 × 152 mm (6 in) in 4 twin mountings 6 × 100 mm (3.9 in) in 3 twin mountings 8 × 37 mm machine-guns 8 × 13.2 mm machine-guns 4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Decks: 20 mm (0.79 in) Belt: 24 mm (0.94 in) Turrets: 23 mm (0.91 in) Tower: 40 mm (1.6 in)
Aircraft carried:	2 × CANT 25AR (later Ro.43) seaplanes
Aviation facilities:	1 × catapult launcher

The Alberto da Giussano class of light cruisers were a sub-class of the Condottieri class built before World War II for the Italian Regia Marina, to gain predominance in the Mediterranean Sea. They were designed by general Giuseppe Vian and were named after military commanders of the Italian Mediaeval and Renaissance periods.

Between the two World Wars, the world powers started a rush to gain the supremacy on the seas. In 1926, France started to produce the Le Fantasque class of destroyers, which were superior in displacement and firepower to the destroyers of that period. In order to counter the French menace, Regia Marina decided to produce a new class of cruiser that would be of intermediate size between the new French destroyer class and the cruisers built in that period. In fact, they roughly equated to the British Leander-class cruisers.

There were 4 ships, all laid down in 1928: Alberto da Giussano, Alberico da Barbiano, Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni dalle Bande Nere.

Meant to hunt down and overwhelm the big French destroyers, the emphasis on firepower and speed resulted in these ships being virtually unprotected, against both gunfire and underwater threats; this was a major factor in all four ships being sunk by torpedoes.

Ships

Ships of the Alberto da Giussano class^[1][2]

Ship	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Alberico da Barbiano	Ansaldo, Genoa	16 April 1928	23 August 1930	9 June 1931	Sunk 13 December 1941, by a group of Royal Navy and Dutch destroyers during the Battle of Cape Bon.
Alberto da Giussano	Ansaldo, Genoa	29 March 1928	27 April 1930	5 February 1931
Bartolomeo Colleoni	Ansaldo, Genoa	21 June 1928	21 December 1930	10 February 1932	Sunk 19 July 1940, during the Battle of Cape Spada.
Giovanni delle Bande Nere	R. C. di Castellammare di Stabia	31 October 1928	27 April 1930	27 April 1931	Sunk 1 April 1942, torpedod by British submarine HMS Urge while off Stromboli.

References

1. Gay, Franco; Gay, Valerio (1987). The cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-453-9.
2. Fraccaroli, Aldo (1968). Italian warships of World War 2. London: Ian Allan.

External links

Media related to Di Giussano class cruiser at Wikimedia Commons