Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni
Bartolomeo Colleoni passing through the Suez Canal in 1935
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History | |
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Italy | |
Name | Bartolomeo Colleoni |
Namesake | Bartolomeo Colleoni |
Ordered | 1926 |
Builder | Ansaldo, Genoa |
Laid down | 21 June 1928 |
Launched | 21 December 1930 |
Commissioned | 10 February 1932 |
Fate | Sunk by HMAS Sydney and others at the Battle of Cape Spada, 19 July 1940 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Giussano-class cruiser |
Displacement |
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Length | 169.3 m (555 ft 5 in) ( loa ) |
Beam | 15.5 m (50 ft 10 in) |
Draft | 5.3 m (17 ft 5 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph) |
Complement | 520 |
Armament |
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Armor | |
Aircraft carried | 2 × seaplanes |
Aviation facilities | 1 × catapult launcher |
Bartolomeo Colleoni was an Italian Giussano-class light cruiser, that served in the Regia Marina (Royal Navy) during World War II. She was named after Bartolomeo Colleoni, an Italian military leader of the 15th century.
She was sunk at the Battle of Cape Spada early in the war.
Design
In the aftermath of World War I, the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) received a group of light cruisers from the defeated German and Austro-Hungarian fleets. At the time, the Italian naval command was satisfied with these vessels as a supplement to their existing scout cruisers in the immediate postwar era. After the French Navy began building twelve large destroyers of the Chacal and Guépard classes, the Italian command responded by ordering the four Giussano-class cruisers.[1] The Giussanos were intended to overpower the new French destroyers with superior armament and very high speed, at the expense of most armor protection.[2]
Bartolomeo Colleoni was 169.3 meters (555 ft 5 in)
Her power plant consisted of two Belluzzo geared
Bartolomeo Colleoni was armed with a
The ship's
Service history
Bartolomeo Colleoni was built by the
After the start of the
World War II
On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France, entering World War II on the side of Germany. At that time, Bartolomeo Colleoni was assigned to II Division of II Squadron, along with her sister ship Giovanni delle Bande Nere. The two ships were moved to Palermo, Sicily, and on the evening of 10 June, they sortied to lay mines in the Strait of Sicily. On 22 June, the two cruisers departed to search for French ships that were reportedly west of Sardinia, but they returned to port two days later, having failed to locate any French vessels. By the end of the month, France had signed the Armistice of Villa Incisa, ending their participation in the war. As a result, Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni delle Bande Nere were moved to Augusta in eastern Sicily. On 2–3 July, the ships carried another sweep that failed to locate any British ships, and the next day they covered a convoy from Tripoli in Italian Libya to Italy.[7]
On 7 July, Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni delle Bande Nere sortied as part of the escort for a large convoy sailing to
Battle of Cape Spada
Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni delle Bande Nere left Tripoli on the evening of 17 July and sailed to the north of
Casardi pursued the British blindly, deciding not to launch any of his reconnaissance aircraft (both because of the sea state and not wanting to slow down to launch them), and he was also not supported by any land based aircraft in the area. As a result, they had no way to know that Sydney was in the area, and when she arrived on the scene at around 07:30 and opened fire, it took the Italians completely by surprise. The Australian cruiser had opened fire from a range of about 12,000 m (13,000 yd) while in the middle of a fog bank; almost immediately, she hit Giovanni delle Bande Nere near her aft funnel. The Italian cruisers quickly returned fire, but had difficulty locating the target in the fog, as they only had Sydney's muzzle flashes to aim at. They also rolled badly in the heavy seas, which further hampered their gun laying.[9] Captain Collins of Sydney detached Havock to join the other destroyers, Collins ordered to make a torpedo attack on the cruisers. Casardi responded by turning his ships south and then southwest to move to less restricted waters further from Crete. As the Italians withdrew, Sydney alternated fire between the two cruisers, depending on which was more visible, but she focused her fire on Bartolomeo Colleoni, as she was generally closer.[14]
At 08:24, Sydney struck Bartolomeo Colleoni with a salvo of 152 mm shells; one of the rounds jammed her rudder in the neutral position. The ship was now unable to steer, but she remained on the course she had been steaming. Shortly thereafter, another salvo from Sydney hit the ship amidships, causing extensive damage and starting several fires. One shell struck her conning tower and killed much of the bridge crew. The ship lost speed, which allowed the British destroyers to come into range. Further hits disabled two of the boilers and destroyed the main steam condenser, which was used to feed water back into the boilers. Without water to boil, the engines quickly shut down, leaving Bartolomeo Colleoni dead in the water. The ammunition hoists for her main battery guns were also disabled. Her 100 mm guns kept firing, as they could be operated manually. Within six minutes of the first hit, the ship had been effectively neutralized and Captain Umberto Novaro issued the order to abandon ship.[13][15]
At about that time, Ilex and Havock closed to launch
In their assessment of the battle, the naval historians Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani note that Casardi had been too cautious in the initial stage of the battle, and that if he had closed to attack the destroyers, he might have defeated them. Instead, he chose to fire at long range to keep his cruisers far enough away that the destroyers would not be able to return fire. They also point out that Italian gunnery was less accurate than their British counterparts, which compounded Casardi's decision to fight at long range. Lastly, they suggested that the Italians might have had a better outcome if they had sent a stronger force, instead of just the two light cruisers.
Footnotes
Notes
- ^ The times in this section are sometimes reported an hour ahead, presumably due to the use of different time zones, depending on the Italian or British perspective. For example, Greene and Massignani report the opening of fire as 07:27, rather than at 06:27,[12] as reported by Gay & Gay or O'Hara.[13]
Citations
- ^ Gay & Gay, p. 6.
- ^ a b Whitley, p. 129.
- ^ Whitley, pp. 129–130.
- ^ a b c Fraccaroli, pp. 293–294.
- ^ a b Fraccaroli, p. 293.
- ^ Gay & Gay, pp. 6, 15.
- ^ a b Gay & Gay, p. 15.
- ^ Whitley, p. 131.
- ^ a b c d Gay & Gay, p. 16.
- ^ O'Hara, p. 34.
- ^ Rohwer, p. 32.
- ^ a b Greene & Massignani, p. 83.
- ^ a b O'Hara, p. 47.
- ^ Greene & Massignani, p. 84.
- ^ Gay & Gay, pp. 16–17.
- ^ a b Gay & Gay, pp. 17–18.
- ^ a b Greene & Massignani, p. 85.
- ^ O'Hara, pp. 47–48.
- ^ https://navyhistory.au/fast-and-furious-the-battle-of-cape-spada-part-ii/
- ^ Greene & Massignani, p. 86.
- ^ O'Hara, p. 48.
References
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1986). "Italy". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
- Gay, Franco; Gay, Valerio (1988). The Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni. Anatomy of the Ship. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-900-9.
- Greene, Jack; Massignani, Alessandro (1998). The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-057-9.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-648-3.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-119-8.
- ISBN 978-1-85409-225-0.
Further reading
- Brescia, Maurizio (2012). Mussolini's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regina Marina 1930–45. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-544-8.
- Stille, Mark E. (2018). Italian Cruisers of World War II. New Vanguard. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-4728-2535-3.
External links
- Media related to Bartolomeo Colleoni (ship, 1930) at Wikimedia Commons
- Bartolomeo Colleoni Marina Militare website (in Italian)