''Bartolomeo Colleoni'' was an Italian

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

, that served in the

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was named after

Bartolomeo Colleoni Bartolomeo Colleoni (; 1400 – 2 November 1475) was an Italian condottiero, who became captain-general of the Republic of Venice. Colleoni "gained reputation as the foremost tactician and disciplinarian of the 15th century".''Websters New ...

, an Italian military leader of the 15th century. She was sunk at the

Battle of Cape Spada The Battle of Cape Spada was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in Second World War. It took place on 19 July 1940 in the Mediterranean Sea off Cape Spada, the north-western extremity of Crete. Prelude The battle occurred whe ...

early in the war.

History

''Colleoni'' was launched on December 21, 1930. ''Bartolomeo Colleoni'' served in the Mediterranean until November 1938, when she sailed to relieve the cruiser in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. She arrived off

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

on 23 December 1938, and remained there until the outbreak of war between Britain and France and Germany. On 1 October, having turned over command in the Far East to the ''Lepanto'', the cruiser returned home, where she arrived on 28 October. Together with the cruiser , ''Colleoni'' formed the 2nd Cruiser Division in the 2nd Squadron. Her first operation was a minelaying sortie on 10 June 1940 in the

Sicilian Channel The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; it, Canale di Sicilia or the Stretto di Sicilia; scn, Canali di Sicilia or Strittu di Sicilia, ar, مضيق ص ...

, followed by troop convoy cover duties between

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

in July. On 17 July the ship sailed from

, accompanied by ''Bande Nere'', bound for

Leros Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flight fr ...

in the Aegean, where British activities in Greek waters were causing concern. In the early hours of 19 July, while off

Cape Spada A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

(

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

), the Italian squadron, having been reported by

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

aircraft the previous day, was intercepted by the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and five destroyers. During the ensuing engagement ''Colleoni'' was struck in the engine room by a shell from ''Sydney'', which knocked out the boilers and immobilised her. This left her an easy target for the torpedoes of the British destroyers and . She sank with the loss of 121 sailors. Despite their speed advantage, the Italian cruisers failed to outrun ''Sydney'' because the most obvious route of escape to the south was to be changed to south-southwest, in order to avoid being trapped between the enemy and the shores of Crete. This gave the Australian cruiser the chance to close the range, as she did. The light armour of ''Colleoni'' was unable to defeat ''Sydney''s rounds. The lack of aerial reconnaissance was another factor contributing to the Allies' successful chase.Greene & Massignani, pp.84-85

Citations

References

* * * *''The Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni'' Franco Gay and Valerio Gay (1988) *Greene, Jack & Massignani, Alessandro (1998). ''The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943''. Chatam Publishing, London. *

External links

*
Bartolomeo Colleoni
Marina Militare website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartolomeo Colleoni Giussano-class cruisers Ships built in Genoa 1930 ships World War II cruisers of Italy World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in July 1940 Ships built by Gio. Ansaldo & C.