''Caio Duilio'' (C 554) was an

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...

cruiser of the ''

Marina Militare "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

''. Built by Navalmeccanica at

Castellammare di Stabia Castellammare di Stabia (; nap, Castiellammare 'e Stabbia) is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania region, in southern Italy. It is situated on the Bay of Naples about southeast of Naples, on the route to Sorrento. History ...

, it was named after the Roman consul

Gaius Duilius Gaius Duilius ( 260–231 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. As consul in 260 BC, during the First Punic War, he won Rome's first ever victory at sea by defeating the Carthaginians at the Battle of Mylae. He later served as censor in 258, an ...

Design

The ''Andrea Doria'' class was intended to provide long range anti-aircraft and anti submarine protection, and as such was armed with a single Mark 10 twin rail launcher for the American

Terrier Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary ...

surface-to-air missile forward and a large helicopter deck and hangar at the aft end of the ship. It was planned to carry three Sea King helicopters, but these proved too large for the ship, and four Agusta-Bell AB-212 helicopters were carried instead.Blackman 1971, p. 182. Close-in anti-aircraft protection was provided by eight

76mm/L62 Allargato The 76mm/L62 ''Allargato'' is a single barrel, medium caliber, dual purpose automatic naval cannon designed and produced in the 1960s by the Italian defence firm of OTO-Melara as the cannon armament for all medium and large warships built for t ...

rapid fire guns mounted on pedestals around the ship's superstructure, while two sets of triple torpedo tubes for lightweight anti-submarine torpedoes provided short range anti-submarine armament.

History

The ship was laid down on 16 May 1958, was launched on 22 December 1962, and commissioned on 30 November 1964. The ship was assigned to the 2° Gruppo Navale d’Altura (2nd High Seas Naval Group) of the II Divisione Navale (2nd Naval Division), based in

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label=Tarantino dialect, Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an ...

. In the 1980s she was transferred to

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest ci ...

, while her sister, ''

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Repu ...

'', moved from there to Taranto. During the late 1970s, ''Caio Duilio'' was upgraded to carry the improved SM-1ER Standard missile, with improved radars and sonar also being fitted.Prézelin and Baker 1990, p. 275. CaioDuilio1985

In 1979–1980, ''Caio Duilio'' was converted to a training cruiser to replace the old ''San Giorgio''. The ship's original hangar was turned into classrooms and additional accommodation, with a new, smaller, hangar being built on the forward part on the helicopter deck, reducing the ship's aviation capacity to two helicopters. The aft two 76 mm guns were also removed, together with their associated fire control radars. ''Caio Duilio'' was decommissioned on 15 December 1989, stricken on 19 July 1991 and sold for scrap on 31 December 1992.Baker 1998, p. 374.

References

;Citations ;Sources * Baker, A.D. ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1998–1999''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1998. . * Blackman, Raymond V. B. ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1971. . * Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley. ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995''. Annapolis, Maryland USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. . * Layman, R. D. and Stephen McLaughlin. ''The Hybrid Warship''. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1991. . * Prézelin, Bernard and A.D Baker. ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1990/91''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1990. .

External links

Caio Duilio
MaritimeQuest
Caio Duilio
Marina Militare website {{DEFAULTSORT:Caio Duilio Andrea Doria-class cruisers Cold War cruisers of Italy Ships built in Castellammare di Stabia 1962 ships Seaplane carriers of the Marina Militare