RN Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi (1937).

ImportantSimone5 · May 25, 2025, 5:55pm

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RN Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi (1937).

History.

In 1936 the OTO Shipyards in La Spezia began construction of the fifth series of “Condottieri class” ships, light cruisers. What came to be known as the “Duca degli Abruzzi class” (in honor of the explorer Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi) had its first ship, properly named RN Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi, as the most advanced of the “Condottieri” class versions, turning out to be much heavier but consequently also more heavily armed and armored.
Three years after the launching of the first ship, she took part in her first war action by taking part in the Italian occupation of Albania with a modestly large naval squadron: the ship took part only in a limited bombardment against Albanian positions, but that was only the beginning of her war activity.
With the start of World War II, the ship was based in Taranto, and in the second half of 1940 she participated in both the Battle of Cape Stilo and in countering Operation Hats (although the latter proved to be a failure). As the conflict continued, the ship took part in many other more or less noteworthy battles, including Cape Matapan, and during a mission to escort an Italian convoy bound for Libya, the ship was hit by a torpedo sustaining minor damage following a night attack by a British torpedo bomber. The damage was minor but the ship remained for a while to repair in the shipyards and then resumed service after the Axis forces’ occupation of Greece along with her sister ship to protect merchant traffic against Axis forces.
The ship was later modernized several times, and her life ended in 1961 with her decommissioning and subsequent scrapping.

Armaments and propulsion.

The ship armament from the time of its launch until its modernisation in 1943 consisted of 4 main batteries of 152/55 Model 1934 OTO Ansaldo (2 twin turrets and 2 triple turrets), 8 x 100/47 OTO Model 1928 cannons in a twin-shielded stand-off mount, 8 x Breda 37/54 Model 1932 cannons on a rigid twin mount, 8 x Breda 13.2 mm Model 1931 heavy machine guns in twin mounts, 6x 533 mm torpedoes and 120 naval mines. With this heavy armamentarium, the ship could provide good firepower against opposing ships and just as much power against enemy aircraft, despite the low accuracy of the armamentarium (mainly the 37 mm guns).
As propulsion, the ship was powered by 2 Belluzzo/Parsons steam turbines fed by steam from 8 water-tube boilers of the Yarrow/Regia Marina type, fuelled by naphtha and providing a maximum power output of 100,000 hp. With this power the ship could reach a maximum speed of about 34 knots. These engines were also fed by a fuel hold of 1,728 tonnes of fuel.

Specifications.

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Maximum weight: 11,600 tons
Length: 187 m
Beam: 18.9 m
Draught: 6.8 m
Engines: 2x Belluzzo/Parson geared steam turbines, , 8 Yarrow boilers (100,000 hp maximum power)
Maximum speed: 34 knots
Crew: 640
Armament: 8x 152/55 Mod. 34, 8x 100/47 Mod. 28, 8x 37/54 Mod.32, 8x Breda Mod.31, 6x 533 mm torpedoes, 120 naval mines and 4 hydroplanes (Ro.43)
Armour: 140-20 mm

Pictures and drawnings.

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