RN San Giorgio (1940).

ImportantSimone5 · April 14, 2024, 8:41pm

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RN San Giorgio (1940).

History.

The San Giorgio was an armoured cruiser of the Regia Marina which first participated in the Italian-Turkish War and subsequently in the two world wars and the Spanish Civil War. The ship was launched in 1908 and entered the navy ranks two years later. The ship was used as an improvised artillery battery during the Italian-Turkish War to protect convoys, and in the Great War the ship was used in attacks against ships of the Austro-Hungarian navy. After the First World War the ship was then used for voyages to South America and with the outbreak of the civil war in Spain the ship was used to escort the Italian troops supporting the Spanish nationalists. Between 1937 and 1938 the ship was modernized at the La Spezia shipyards. Almost all of the light armament was modified, the torpedo launchers were removed and some of the heavy artillery was replaced with new pieces. With the outbreak of the new world war and with the heavy age of the ship despite the modernization, it was assigned to the defense of Tobruch as a floating coastal and anti-aircraft battery. Shortly after the start of hostilities the ship was forced to defend the city from English air attacks with notable success due to its heavy anti-aircraft armament, and in that period the tragic killing of Italo Balbo by friendly fire occurred. On 21 January 1941 the ship suffered a heavy air attack by the British but managed to escape with some minor damage and shot down forty-seven enemy planes in a single day. On the same day the ship found itself isolated from its allied command due to English attacks but continued heavy fire until it was scuttled by the captain. The ship’s motto was “Protector et vindicator”.

Armaments and propulsion.

The ship had heavy, if quite antiquated, armament. On two twin armored towers located one at the stern and one at the bow of the ship there were four 254/45 A. Mod. 1907 cannons of English origin. Eight 190/45 A Mod. 1908 cannons (also of English origin) were placed on smaller but always twin towers. The anti-aircraft armament consisted of 10 100/47 pieces in twin turrets, 12 Breda 20/65 Mod. 1935 guns in twin systems and 10 Breda Mod. 31 machine guns in twin systems. With this armament the ship could give quite heavy anti-aircraft fire for the time despite the lack of large calibers.
The ship was powered by eight Blechynden oil boilers and two reciprocating engines. There were also two 18,200 horsepower propellers on the drive shaft and there were only two funnels. Despite this, the ship reached a speed of 18 knots and had a maximum range of 5,741 km.

Specifications.

Spoiler

Crew: 699
Displacement: 9,232 tons
Length: 139 m
Width: 21 m
Draft: 6,858 m
Machinery: 8 boilers, 2 shafts, 2 VTE, 18,000 ihp
Speed: 18 knots
Belt armor: 200 mm
Turret armor: 160–200 mm
Bridge armor: 50 mm
Conning tower armor: 254 mm
Armament: 4x 254/45 A. Mod. 1907, 8x 190/45 A Mod. 1908, 10x 100/47, 12x Breda 20/65 Mod. 1935 and 10x Breda Mod. 31

Pictures and drawnings.

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