The Condottieri class was a sequence of five

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 ...

classes of the ''

Regia Marina The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origin ...

'' (Italian Navy), although these classes show a clear line of evolution. They were built before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to gain predominance in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. The ships were named after ''

condottieri Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...

'' (military commanders) of Italian history. Each class is known after the first ship of the group: : * * * * ''Cadorna'' class: * * ''Montecuccoli'' class: * * ''Duca d'Aosta'' class: * * ''Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi'' class: * *

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 The Battle of Cape Spada was a naval battle between the Royal Navy and the during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the second World War. It took place on 19 July 1940 in the Mediterranean Sea off Cape Spada, the north-western extremity of Cr ...

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 HMS ''Urge'' was a British U-class submarine, of the second group of that class, built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 30 October 1939, and was commissioned on 12 December 1940. From 1941 to 1942 she formed part o ...

, 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 The Hellenic Navy (HN; , abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence ...

and the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

respectively as

war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. War reparations can take the form of hard currency, precious metals, natural resources, in ...

; ''Luigi Cadorna'' was quickly stricken, became a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

, and the ''Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi'' subclass served on in the ''

Marina Militare The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the '' Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active pe ...

'' until the 1970s, with becoming the first European

guided missile cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to s ...

in 1961.

Ships

Notes

References

* *

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