Italian cruiser Luigi Cadorna
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| Career | _crowned.svg/40px-Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946)_crowned.svg.png){kind=small} |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 29 October 1929 |
| Laid down: | 19 September 1930 |
| Launched: | 30 September 1931 |
| Commissioned: | 11 August 1933 |
| Fate: | scraped in 1951 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 5,323 tons tons standard,
7,113 tons tons full load |
| Length: | 169.3 m |
| Beam: | 15.5 m |
| Draught: | 5.2 m |
| Propulsion: | 6 boilers, 2 shafts, 95,000 hp |
| Speed: | 37 knots (67 km/h) |
| Range: | 2.930 nautical miles at 16 knots |
| Complement: | 507 men |
| Armament: | 8 × 152/53 mm in 4 dual mountings,
6 × 100/47 mm (anti-aircraft), 2 × 37/54 mm, 8 × 13.2 mm, 4 × 533 torpedo tubes |
| Aircraft: | 2 |
| Protection: | side 20 mm., deck 24 mm., turrets 23 mm |
Luigi Cadorna was an Italian Condottieri class light cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She was launched on 30 September 1931. This ship was named after Italian Field Marshall Luigi Cadorna who was commander in Chief of the Italian Army during World War I.
During her early service she did operations in the Spanish Civil War. In April 1939 she participated in the occupation of Albania.
When World War II broke out she was a part of the 4th Cruiser Division and started laying mines on 9 June 1940 near the island of Lampedusa. A month later she was present in the battle of Calabria where she avoided a submarine torpedo attack, engaged enemy aircraft and rendering assistance to her sister ship, which had boiler problems. However, due to her relatively weak design and light armor, she went into reserve from 12 February 1941. But when supplying of the axis army in North Africa became more important, she entered the service again and provided distant cover for the convoys headed towards North Africa. Occasionally she sortied with the fleet to intercept British convoys to Malta. In the period of November/December 1941 she was also used as a transport, transporting fuel and munition to Libya
From January 1942 she was transferred to Pola, where she was employed in a training role. After a short refit in May/June 1943, she joined the 8th Cruiser Division on 14 June.
Between 24 June and 30 June she transported troops to Albania, and on 3 July she was transferred to Taranto, from whence, in August, she made five minelaying sorties to lay defensive fields in the Gulf of Taranto.
At the armistice on 8 September 1943 she was at Taranto but she sailed to Malta on the 9th to surrender together with the Fleet were she remained until transferred to Alexandria on 14 September. After a brief stay she returned to Taranto in October. As the remainder of the war she was used as a transportship for the Allies as for the repatriation of Italian troops.
After the Peace Treaty on 10 February 1947, she was one of the few ships to remain in the Italian Navy. Because of her age and condition she was only used as a training ship until stricken in May 1951.
