Italian cruiser Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta

Last updated
Cruiser Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta.jpg
History
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svgNaval Ensign of Italy.svg Italy
NameEmanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta
Namesake Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta
Builder O.T.O., Livorno
Laid down29 October 1932
Launched22 April 1934
Commissioned13 July 1935
FateCeded to the Soviet Union as war reparation, March 1949
Naval Ensign of the Soviet Union (1950-1991).svg Soviet Union
NameKerch
Acquired2 March 1949
Commissioned30 March 1949 [1]
Stricken20 February 1959
FateScrapped
General characteristics
Class and type Condottieri-class cruiser
Displacement
  • 8,450 t (8,317 long tons) standard
  • 10,539 t (10,373 long tons) full load
Length186.9 m (613 ft 2 in)
Beam17.5 m (57 ft 5 in)
Draught6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Propulsion
  • 2 shaft Belluzzo/Parsons geared turbines
  • 6 Yarrow boilers
  • 110,000 hp (82,027 kW)
Speed36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph)
Range3,900  nmi (7,200 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement578
Armament
Armour
Aircraft carried2 or 3 Ro.43 floatplanes
Aviation facilities1 catapult

Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta was an Italian light cruiser of the fourth group of the Condottieri-class, that served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She survived the war, but was ceded as war reparation to the Soviet Navy in 1949. She was finally renamed Kerch and served in the Black Sea Fleet until the 1960s.

Contents

Design

Duca d'Aosta was the namesake of the fourth subclass of Condottieri light cruisers. The design of the Duca d'Aostas derived from the preceding Montecuccoli class, with a slight increase in size and a significant increase in armour. The machinery was also re-arranged.

Duca d'Aosta was built by OTO, Livorno and was named after Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta, an Italian Field Marshal of World War I.

Career

The ship joined the 7th Cruiser Division. Ducad'Aosta took part actively of the Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War, when the cruiser shelled the port of Valencia on 15 February 1937. [2] In 1938 departed on a circumnavigation with her sister-ship, Eugenio Di Savoia. The deteriorating world political situation caused this to be cut short after visits to the Caribbean and South America, and the ships returned La Spezia in March 1939.

World War II

At the Italian entry into the war, Duca d'Aosta was part of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron and participated in the Battle of Punta Stilo between 610 July. In addition, she protected North Africa convoys, took part in a fleet sortie against British cruisers and bombarded Corfu on 18 December.

During 1941, Duca d'Aosta served mostly with the 8th Cruiser Division, laying minefields off North Africa and protecting convoys. One of the convoy duties, in December, led to the First Battle of Sirte, in which Duca d'Aosta took part.

Her duties in 1942 were much as before, but with aggressive actions against Allied convoys, including the Operations Harpoon and Vigorous, in June, to resupply the British controlled island of Malta. She sailed in August to intercept the critical Pedestal convoy, but this sortie was abandoned due to poor air cover. On 13 June 1942, Duca d'Aosta survived a torpedo attack by the British submarine HMS Unison, while south of Sardinia with the Raimondo Montecuccoli. [3]

In 1943, Ducad'Aosta was inactive due to fuel shortages for most of the remainder of the year, but in August, she attempted, unsuccessfully, a bombardment of Allied positions around Palermo.

Duca d'Aosta was a "lucky ship" in that she never was damaged in any of the naval actions in which she participated nor was she ever damaged by air attack or submarine attack.

Allied service

After the Italian Armistice, Duca d'Aosta had a minor refit at Taranto and in October 1943, with the cruisers Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi and Giuseppe Garibaldi, she sailed to the South Atlantic, to serve with the Allies on shipping blockade duties, based at Freetown. There were seven patrols between November 1943 and February 1944; she returned to Italy in April and, thereafter, was used only for transport.

Postwar

Duca d'Aosta was transferred to the Soviet Union on 2 March 1949 and served as Kerch in the Black Sea Fleet. The cruiser became a training ship in February 1956. Kerch was stricken on 20 February 1959 and scrapped. [1]

Citations

  1. 1 2 Rohwer, Jürgen; Monakov, Mikhail S. (2001). Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding. Routledge. p. 268. ISBN   9780714648958.
  2. Mattesini, Francesco (2020-08-24). La guerra civile spagnola e la Regia Marina italiana (in Italian). Soldiershop Publishing. ISBN   978-88-9327-614-6.
  3. Chalcraft, Geoff (2000–2008). "Unison". British Submarines of World War II. Archived from the original on 2008-09-19. Retrieved 2008-06-25.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Calabria</span> World War II naval battle

The Battle of Calabria 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 Regia Marina were opposed by vessels of the Mediterranean Fleet. The battle took place 30 nmi to the east of Punta Stilo, Calabria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian Navy</span> Maritime warfare branch of Italys military

The Italian Navy is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the Regia Marina after World War II. Historically the Italian Navy traces its roots back to the navy of Ancient Rome. As of August 2014, the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active personnel, with approximately 184 vessels in service, including minor auxiliary vessels. It is considered a multiregional and a blue-water navy.

<i>Regia Marina</i> 1861–1946 branch of Italian military; predecessor of the Marina Militare

The Regia Marina (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, the Regia Marina changed its name to Marina Militare.

Condottieri-class cruiser Class of Italian light cruisers

The Condottieri class was a sequence of five light cruiser classes of the Regia Marina, 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 of Italian history.

Italian cruiser <i>Trento</i> Heavy cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy

Trento was the first of two Trento-class cruisers; they were the first heavy cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina. The ship was laid down in February 1925, launched in October 1927, and was commissioned in April 1929. Trento was very lightly armored, with only a 70 mm (2.8 in) thick armored belt, though she possessed a high speed and heavy main battery of eight 203 mm (8 in) guns. Though nominally built under the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, the two cruisers significantly exceeded the displacement limits imposed by the treaty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Battle of Sirte</span> Naval battle in the Second World War

The First Battle of Sirte was fought between forces of the British Mediterranean Fleet and the Regia Marina during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War. The engagement took place on 17 December 1941, south-east of Malta, in the Gulf of Sirte. The engagement was inconclusive as both forces were protecting convoys and wished to avoid battle.

Italian cruiser <i>Luigi Cadorna</i>

Luigi Cadorna was an Italian Condottieri-class light cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II; named after Italian Field Marshal Luigi Cadorna who was commander in Chief of the Italian Army during World War I.

Italian cruiser <i>Raimondo Montecuccoli</i> Italian WWII-era light cruiser

Raimondo Montecuccoli was a Condottieri-class light cruiser serving with the Italian Regia Marina during World War II. She survived the war and served in the post-war Marina Militare until 1964.

Italian cruiser <i>Muzio Attendolo</i>

Muzio Attendolo was a Condottieri-class light cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina which fought in World War II. She was sunk in Naples by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 4 December 1942. Although salvaged after the war, she was damaged beyond repair and was scrapped.

Italian cruiser <i>Eugenio di Savoia</i> Italian and Greek naval vessel (1933–1965)

Eugenio di Savoia was a Condottieri-class light cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She survived the war but was given as a war reparation to the Hellenic Navy in 1950. Eugenio di Savoia was renamed Elli and served until 1965.

Italian cruiser <i>Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi</i>

Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi was an Italian Duca degli Abruzzi-class light cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. After the war, she was retained by the Marina Militare and decommissioned in 1961. She was built by OTO at La Spezia and named after Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, an Italian explorer and Admiral of World War I.

HMS <i>Unison</i> Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Unison (P43) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, and part of the third group of that class. She is the only craft of the Royal Navy to have borne the name Unison. Prior to receiving the name, she carried the pennant number P43 and was unofficially known as Ulysses. She was renamed Unison in 1943.

Italian cruiser <i>Giuseppe Garibaldi</i> (1936) Light cruiser warship in Italy

Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian Duca degli Abruzzi-class light cruiser, that served in the Regia Marina during World War II. After the war she was retained by the Marina Militare and upgraded. She was built by CRDA, in Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard Trieste and named after the Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action in the Strait of Otranto</span> Naval action in World War II

The Action in the Strait of Otranto [also the Battle of the Strait of Otranto (1940)] was the destruction of an Italian convoy on 12 November 1940 during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War. It took place in the Strait of Otranto in the Adriatic Sea, between the Royal Navy and the Italian Royal Navy.

Italian battleship <i>Roma</i> (1940) Fast battleship of the Italian Royal Navy

Roma, named after two previous ships and the city of Rome, was the third Littorio-class battleship of Italy's Regia Marina. The construction of both Roma and her sister ship Impero was due to rising tensions around the world and the navy's fear that only two Littorios, even in company with older pre-First World War battleships, would not be enough to counter the British and French Mediterranean Fleets. As Roma was laid down almost four years after the first two ships of the class, some small improvements were made to the design, including additional freeboard added to the bow.

Italian battleship <i>Emanuele Filiberto</i> Pre-dreadnought battleship of the Italian Royal Navy

The Emanuele Filiberto was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Italian Regia Marina during the 1890s. Her keel was laid down in October 1893 and she was launched in September 1897; work was completed in April 1902. She had one sister ship, Ammiraglio di Saint Bon, the lead ship of the Ammiraglio di Saint Bon class. She was armed with a main battery of four 254 mm (10 in) guns and was capable of a speed in excess of 18 knots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberto da Zara</span> Italian admiral

Alberto da Zara was an Italian admiral of the Regia Marina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferdinando Casardi</span> Italian politician

Ferdinando Casardi was an Italian admiral during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amedeo Nomis di Pollone</span> Italian admiral

Amedeo Nomis di Pollone was an Italian admiral in the Regia Marina during World War II.

References