In the late 1920s to the mid 1930s
Italy
constructed a series of light cruisers collectively called the Condottieri.
They started as very light cruiser designs, almost in the class of destroyer
leaders but mounting six-inch guns. The supreme emphasis was on speed. They had
very little armor, barely under an inch in thickness at the start. As design
followed design, a change occurred and each subsequent design of the Condottieri
became heavier with more emphasis on armor protection, making each class more
combat worthy than the preceding class. This article looks at the 4th
class of Condottieri, which consisted of two ships, Emanuele
Filiberto Duca D’Aosta and Eugenio
Di Savoia.
Light Cruiser construction for the Italian Navy (Regia Marina) between World
War One and World War Two most almost exclusively governed by the warships being
constructed by
France
.
Italy
saw
France
as her possible adversary and designed warships in reply to French designs. The
line of Italian Light cruiser designs from 1928 to 1933 illustrates this
influence.
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In the mid-1920s
France
began construction of a series of very large destroyers of 2,100 tons and
mounting five 5.1-Inch guns. In addition to designing her own large destroyers,
the Italian Navy went a further step. A very light, ultra fast cruiser, which
sacrificed all armor protection for great speed and strong armament was
developed. The four ships of the Da Barbiano
Class were laid down in 1928, launched in 1930 and completed
February 1931 to February 1932. These 5,110-ton ships mounted eight 6-Inch and
six 3.9-inch guns, had a maximum speed of 36.5 knots but carried no armor,
except for a miniscule 24mm (1-inch) belt and 23mm on the turrets. The Da
Barbiano actually hit 42 knots for 30 minutes during trials but
that was in an artificially favorable environment. Since a bonus was paid to the
builders for exceeding contract speed, builders would force the machinery beyond
normal and safe limits during trials, resulting in artificially high legend
speeds. This class, as well as subsequent classes were called Condottieri,
as they were named for famous Italian captains of free agent armies that
dominated
Italy
during the Renaissance, when the peninsula was a series of small kingdoms and
principalities, as well as subsequent Italian heroes.
In 1930 another class of Condottieri was laid down. The two
ship Luigi Cadorna Class had the
same size, speed and armament as those of the Da Barbiano Class.
Although there was still a lack of armor, as it was the same scheme as the
earlier design, these ships had a slightly greater displacement at 5,323 tons
due to improved strengthening of the hull. Laid down in 1930, they were both
completed in 1933.
In the following year with the third class of Condottieri, the
Regia Marina finally improved the armor plan of their light cruisers. The two
cruisers of the Raimondo Montecuccoli
Class saw a big jump in displacement to 7,405-tons. Length also
jumped from 555 feet in the prior two classes to 598 feet. The primary reason
for the additional length was the increase in the power plant. To keep the ships
as fast as the earlier no armor designs but to carry armor of a 60mm belt and
70mm on the turrets, a larger plant was necessary. Where the two earlier designs
could achieve their 36.5 knots with 95,000 shp, the Montecuccoli
Class required 106,000 shp to hit 37 knots maximum speed.
However, the armament remained the same as the earlier designs. These two were
laid down in 1931, launched in 1934 and completed in 1935.
The fourth class of Condottieri continued with the trend for
larger but better protected cruisers. The two ships of the Duca
D’Aosta Class saw another jump in displacement to 8,317-tons,
length to 613 feet and armor to a 70mm belt with 90mm on the turrets. The
armament remained the same as the three preceding designs but the power plant
increased to 110,000 shp to achieve 36.5 knots maximum speed. These two, Emanuele
Filiberto Duca D’Aosta and Eugenio
Di Savoia were laid down in 1932 and 1933, launched in 1935 and
1936 and completed in 1935 and 1936.
The changes from the preceding Montecuccoli
Class were all to make the ships more stable and provide enhanced
protection, hence improved survivability. Armor alone took up 1,700 tons of the
8,317-ton displacement, more than 20% of the cruisers’ displacement. The armor
scheme represented a 29% increase over the Montecuccoli
Class. Quite clearly the Condottieri had evolved
from the early light, extremely fast but extremely frail cruisers that started
the parade in the 1920s. To keep the 36knot+ speed of the earlier cruisers more
powerful engines were installed. Horsepower was 110,000, up from the 106,000shp
of the Montecuccoli Class.
The gun armament remained almost identical to the preceding Montecuccoli
Class, with a slight increase in heavy AA machine guns. The two
cruisers were fitted with eight 6-inch (4x2) guns, six 3.9-inch (3x2) guns,
eight 37mm AA (4x2) guns and twelve 13.2mm (6x2) heavy machine guns, which were
four more than found in the Montecuccoli Class.
However, there was another change in armament. With the preceding class there
were four 21-inch torpedo tubes mounted in two twin mounts. With the Duca
D’Aosta Class, torpedo strength was increased by 50% by the use
of triple mountings. Additionally, the ships were outfitted to carry 100 to 185
mines. Two Ro43 floatplanes were carried for the Gagnotto catapult. They were
very similar in appearance to the two cruisers of the Montecuccoli
Class but could be distinguished by the funnels, which were equal
size in the Duca D’Aosta Class
and by the slightly heavier bridge. On trials the ships were extraordinarily
fast with Duca D’Aosta hitting
37.35 knots and Savoia hitting
37.33 knots. However, in large part these high speeds were determined as a
result of the standards employed in the tests. They ran light and forced the
machinery above designed capacities.
Emanuele Filiberto Duca D’Aosta
was laid down in the OTO Yard in
Livorno
on October 29, 1932. She was launched on April 22, 1934 and entered service on
July 13, 1935. She was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Division, which
also included sister Eugenio Di Savoia
as flag ship, Montecuccoli
and Attendolo. In 1938 Eugenio
Di Savoia and Duca D’Aosta
were ordered to circumnavigate the world. The pair left
Naples
on November 5, 1938 and were scheduled to finish their voyage on July 25, 1939.
During the first part of the voyage, they stopped at ports in the Caribbean,
Brazil
,
Argentina
and
Chile
. However, logistical problems and the war clouds deepening over Europe caused
the cancellation of their mission and they were recalled to
Italy
before visiting the
US
and then striking across the Pacific. They arrived back at
La Spezia
on March 3, 1939. Both ships became part of the 2nd Cruiser squadron
of the 7th Cruiser Division. in 1940. Between July 6 to 10 they were
engaged in a sortie that culminated in the action off of Punto (
Cape
) Stilo. During the summer the pair covered convoys to
North Africa
. In October they took part in a sortie designed to intercept British cruisers
bound for
Malta
, without success. The pair split company on February 16, 1941 when Duca
D’Aosta was reassigned to the 8th Division. She
remained with the 8th Division until November 28, 1941 when
transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Division.
Even though in different divisions, the two sisters still participated in
joint operations. From April 19 through 24, 1941 off Cape Bon and on June 3,
1941 Duca D’Aosta and Savoia
laid mines off of
Tripoli
. Between December 13 through 19, 1941, Duca
D’Aosta escorted convoys M41 and M42. During this same
period the Royal Navy was conducting its own operations to get a convoy to
Malta
. The escorting forces collided resulting in the First Battle of Sirte. On
December 16 the Italian convoy, escorted by 8 destroyers, left
Naples
. South of Sicily was the close support force comprised of battleship Duilio
and cruisers Duca
D’Aosta, Montecuccoli and Attendolo, with four destroyers. A
distant support force of three more battleships, two cruisers and ten destroyers
was also provided. On December 17 a German reconnaissance aircraft spotted a
British convoy bound for
Malta
. This was misinterpreted as a force attempting to intercept the Italian convoy.
Admiral Vian was commander of the British escort force and had orders to attack
the Italian convoy once the tanker bound for
Malta
was safe. Admiral Iachino commanded the distant covering force from Littorio. He changed course to
attack the British force with his force speed constrained by the 24 knots of Cesare. Contact occurred around dusk and for once the
Italian Navy surprised the Royal Navy. Littorio opened up with her 15-inch guns at extreme
range and Vian’s wake up call came in the form of heavy caliber shell splashes
appearing around his ships. Vian sent in destroyers to attack but turned away
with his cruisers and laid down a smoke screen. The Italian destroyers charged
in to meet their opponents. After some exchange of fire, the British broke off
and headed westward. With dropping of night and retirement of the British the
First Battle of Sirte was inconclusive in that there were no material losses for
either side, however, the Italian fleet had been handled aggressively with
success and thwarted the attempt to intercept the Italian convoy.
In January 1942 there was another convoy to escort
and in February Duca D’Aosta
went unsuccessfully against another
Malta
convoy. Finally in June 1942 Duca
D’Aosta and Savoia
again saw action. They sailed to intercept British units during the
British Operation Harpoon/Vigorous. In the course of this operation Savoia
with other Italian units, engaged British destroyers and HMS
Bedouin was sunk. Duca D’Aosta
and Savoia were anchored in the
Bay
of
Naples
on December 4, 1942 when a bombing raid of the USAAF rumbled in. Savoia
received damage and was transferred to Castellamare di Stabia for several months
of repairs but Duca D’Aosta
was untouched. By 1943 the acute shortage of fuel oil sidelined the cruisers for
prolonged periods of time but they did make an unsuccessful attempt to bombard
allied positions at
Palermo
after the Invasion of Sicily. Unlike Savoia, which was little used
after the September 1943 armistice, Duca
D’Aosta actually had missions as a co-belligerent. On October
27, 1943, after a quick refit at
Taranto
, Duca D’Aosta along with Abruzzi
and Garibaldi
steamed for the Straight of Gibraltar and out of Mussolini’s Mare Nostrum and
into the broad
Atlantic
. The Italian cruisers were based at
Freetown
with the mission of intercepting blockade runners. Between November 19, 1943
and February 15, 1944, Duca D’Aosta
made seven cruises in the central and south
Atlantic
. On April 3, 1944 she returned to
Italy
and thereafter was employed as a transport. After the end of the war Duca
D’Aosta was laid up but on March 2, 1949 she was renamed Z15
and was transferred to the Soviet Union. The Russians first renamed Duca
D’Aosta as Stalingrad
and then as
Kerch
. (Bulk of history from Cruisers of World
War Two, An International Encyclopedia by M.J.Whitley; and The
Italian Navy in World War II by Marc’ Antonio Bragadin)
Combrig Duca
D’Aosta
The
purpose of this article is to show the modeler their first glimpse of the Combrig
Duca D’Aosta.
A full kit review will appear for ship as she was rebuilt for service in the
Soviet Navy as
Kerch
,
which has also been produced by Combrig in 1:700 scale. The kit of Duca
D’Aosta is as the cruiser
appeared as built and of course the
Kerch
reflects her appearance 15 years later. There are big differences between the
kits. The catapult of Duca D’Aosta
was landed and the secondary and anti-aircraft gun complement of
Kerch
is different and greatly increased over that of Duca
D’Aosta.
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