Condottieri-class Cruiser

The Condottieri class was a sequence of five different light cruiser classes of the ''Regia Marina'' (Italian Navy), although these classes show a clear line of evolution. They were built before World War II to gain predominance in the Mediterranean Sea. The ships were named after ''condottieri'' (military commanders) of Italian history.

Each class is known after the first ship of the group:

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''Cadorna'' class:
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''Montecuccoli'' class:
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''Duca d'Aosta'' class:
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''Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi'' class:
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Evolution

The first group, the four ''Giussano''s, were built to counter the French large destroyers (''contre-torpilleurs''), the first being the 2,500 ton ''Le Fantasque''-class, and therefore they featured very high speed, in exchange for virtually no armour protection.

The following two ''Cadorna''s retained the main characteristics, with minor improvements to stability and hull strength.

Major changes were introduced for the next pair, the ''Montecuccoli''s. About 2,000 tons heavier, they had significantly better protection, and upgraded power-plants to maintain the required high speed.

The two ''Duca d'Aosta''s continued the trend, thickening the armour and improving the power plant again.

The final pair, the ''Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi''s completed the transition, sacrificing a little speed for good protection (their armour scheme was the same of the heavy cruisers) and for two more 6-inch /55 guns.

Service

All ships served in the Mediterranean during World War II.

The ships of the first two subclasses (with the exception of ) were all lost by 1942, primarily to enemy torpedoes (with sunk by destroyers at the Battle of Cape Spada after being crippled by , and suffering a similar fate at in a night action of the Battle of Cape Bon, sunk by British submarine HMS Urge, and sunk by the British submarine HMS ''Upright'') that led many authors (including Preston) to question their real value as fighting ships. The subsequent vessels fared considerably better with all surviving the war, except (torpedoed in August 1942 and sunk by an Allied bombing in December 1942).

After the end of the war, and were given to the Greek Navy and the Soviet Navy respectively as war reparations; ''Luigi Cadorna'' was quickly stricken, became a training ship, and the ''Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi'' subclass served on in the ''Marina Militare'' until the 1970s, with becoming the first European guided missile cruiser in 1961 .

Ships

Notes

References

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External links

''Condottieri'' light cruiser classes

{{WWII Italian ships

Cruiser classes

World War II cruisers of Italy
Cruisers of the Regia Marina
Cruisers of the Italian Navy