''Armando Diaz'' was a

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 ...

of the and the sister-ship of the . She served in 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 ...

during

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 ...

. She was built by OTO, La Spezia, and named after

Armando Diaz Armando Diaz, 1st Duke della Vittoria, (5 December 1861 – 28 February 1928) was an Italian general and a Marshal of Italy. He is mostly known for his role as Chief of Staff of the Regio Esercito during World War I from November 1917. He ...

, an Italian Field Marshal of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. She was launched on 29 April 1933 and served in the Mediterranean after her completion. From 1 September 1934 until February 1935 she made a cruise to Australia and New Zealand. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

she served in the western Mediterranean and was based at

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

and

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

. In July 1940, she was present at the

Battle of Calabria The Battle of Calabria (9 July 1940) known to the Italian Navy as the Battle of Punta Stilo, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War. Ships of the were opposed by vessels of the Mediterranean Fleet. ...

, also called the battle of Punta Stilo. In October she took part in a mission to Albania, and in December she came under direct orders of

Supermarina Supermarina was the headquarters of the Italian Royal Navy (''Regia Marina'') established on 1 June 1940, just before Italy entered the Second World War. The Army and Air Force equivalents were '' Superesercito'' and '' Superaereo'', which were su ...

(Naval Headquarters) for special duties in connection with the protection of traffic to

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

from January 1941. However, the following month an important supply convoy to

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

required her use for cover, in company with the light cruiser and some destroyers. In the course of this operation the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine off the

Kerkennah Islands Kerkennah Islands ( '; Ancient Greek: ''Κέρκιννα Cercinna''; Spanish:''Querquenes'') are a group of islands lying off the east coast of Tunisia in the Gulf of Gabès and to the east of Sfax, at . The Islands are low-lying, being no more ...

in the early hours of 25 February. It took the Italian cruiser only six minutes to sink after her magazine detonated, with the loss of 484 men.

Wreck

The wreck of ''Armando Diaz'' was located around 2009–2010. The ship lies on her port side in less than 50 meters of water, with her bow blown off. Her aft turrets are still in place, their guns buried in the bottom.

Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armando Diaz Cadorna-class cruisers Ships built by OTO Melara Ships built in La Spezia 1932 ships World War II cruisers of Italy Ships sunk by British submarines World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in February 1941 Naval magazine explosions