Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni
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 Colleoni sinking |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1926 |
| Laid down: | 21 June 1928 |
| Launched: | 21 December 1930 |
| Commissioned: | 10 February 1932 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 19 July 1940 |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 6,571 tons standard,
6,954 tons full load |
| Length: | 169.3 m |
| Beam: | 15.5 m |
| Draught: | 5.3 m |
| Propulsion: | 6 boilers, 2 shafts, 95,000 hp |
| Speed: | 37 knots (67 km/h) |
| Range: | 3,800 miles at 18 knots |
| Complement: | 507 |
| Armament: | 8 × 152 mm / 53 caliber in 4 dual mountings,
6 × 100 mm / 47 caliber (anti-aircraft), 8 × 37 mm / 54 caliber, 8 × 13.2 mm, 4 × 533 mm torpedo tubes |
| Aircraft: | 2 |
| Protection: | side 20 mm., deck 24 mm., turrets 23 mm. |
Bartolomeo Colleoni was an Italian Condottieri class light cruiser, that served in the Regia Marina during World War II. It was named after Bartolomeo Colleoni, an Italian military leader of the 15th century.
Colleoni was launched on December 21, 1930.
Bartolomeo Colleoni served in the Mediterranean until November 1938, when she sailed to relieve Raimondo Montecuccoli in the Far East. She arrived off Shanghai on December 23, 1938, and remained there until the outbreak of war between Britain and France and Germany. On 1 October, having turned over command in the Far East to the sloop Lepanto, the cruiser returned home, where she arrived on 28 October.
Colleoni formed the 2nd Cruiser Division in the 2nd Squadron together with Giovanni dalle Bande Nere. Her first operation was a minelaying sortie on 10 June 1940 in the Sicilian Channel, followed by troop convoy cover duties between Naples and Tripoli in July.
On 17 July the ship sailed from Tripoli, accompanied by Bande Nere and bound for Leros in the Aegean, where British activities in Greek waters were causing concern. In the early hours of 19 July, while off Cape Spada (Crete), the Italian squadron, having been reported by RAF aircraft the previous day, was intercepted by the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and five destroyers. During the ensuing engagement Colleoni eventually received a shell hit in the engine room which immobilised her and left her an easy target for the destroyers' torpedoes.
She sank with the loss of 121 sailors.
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