Zara class (Zara, Fiume, Gorizia, Pola)
Type: Italian heavy cruiser.
History:
Latent Franco-Italian naval rivalry
broke out at new after the Washington
Treaty, the two French Duquesne
class cruisers being immediately
trumped by the Italian Trento class
with superior protection. The latter
were not even completed before the
French embarked on the four Suffren
class cruisers, whose survivability was
improved a little at the cost of some
speed. As it then took Italy three years
to reply, predictably, with the four
Zara class cruisers, it would seem that
the French design was acquired and
thoroughly digested before hand. In
any case, the Italian units were excellent
ships, with reduced power on only
two shafts but with a high level of protection,
whose weight took the ships
beyond treaty limits.
Italian heavy cruiser Zara in 1938.
Three of the class formed the 1st
Cruiser Division at the Battle of Calabria,
only a month after the outbreak of
the Mediterranean war. The action
proved an anti-climax, the Italian fleet
disengaging immediately the flagship
had been hit.
Zara class cruiser.
The next significant action was also
their last when, near the end of March
1941, a complex set of Italian fleet
movements was undertaken with the
object of intercepting a British convoy
near Crete. The British, aware of what
was afoot, cleared the area and set a
trap for the Italians but the latter, as
nervous and fleet as any antelope,
smelled danger and made for home.
Anxious to bring the Italian battleship
to account, the British used carrier air
strikes to slow it sufficiently to allow
their heavy ships to close. Only the 1st
Division's Pola was thus stopped,
however, her two running mates Zara and Fiume with two destroyers then
staying to assist. Admiral Cunningham's battleships fell on them and
despatched them with close-range
381-mm (15-in) salvoes at what become
known as the night Battle of
Matapan.
Italian heavy cruiser Zara class.
With the American Astoria and British Cressy classes the Zara class thus has the melancholy record of
losing three of its type in one engagement.
Users: Italy.
Italian heavy cruiser in wake, probably Gorizia in 1942.
|
Zara class (1940)
|
| Type |
heavy cruiser |
| Displacement |
11,500 - 11,900 tons |
| Displacement
(full loaded) |
14,200 - 14,600 tons |
| Length |
599 ft 5 in |
| Beam |
67 ft 7 in |
| Draught |
19 ft 4 in |
| Main Armament |
Eight 203-mm (8-in) guns |
| Secundary Armament |
12 x 100-mm (3.9-in) DP guns |
| Anti-Aircraft |
Eight 37-mm AA-guns , eight 13.2-mm AA-machine guns |
| Torpedo tubes |
- |
| Anti-Submarine |
- |
| Aircraft |
2 |
| Armour side (belt) |
100-150 mm (3.9-5.9 in) |
Armour deck
|
70 mm (2.75 in) |
| Armour main deck |
- |
| Armoured deck |
- |
| Armour main turrets |
120-140 mm (4.7-5.5 in) |
| Armour secundary turrets |
- |
| Armour barbetts |
140-150 mm (5.5-5.9 in) |
| Boiler |
Eight Thornycroft three-drums boilers |
| Propulsion |
Parsons geared turbines with two shafts
|
| Power |
108,000 hp |
| Oil |
2150 tons |
| Speed |
32 kts |
| Range |
4,500 nm at 16 kts |
| Complement |
830 |
| Laid down |
Zara July 4, 1929
Fiume April 29, 1929
Gorizia October 16, 1930
Pola March 17, 1931
|
| Launched |
Zara April 27, 1930
Fiume April 27, 1930
Gorizia December 28, 1930
Pola December 5, 1931
|
| Comissioned |
Zara October 20, 1931
Fiume November 23, 1931
Gorizia December 23, 1931
Pola December 21, 1931
|
| Remaining |
Zara scuttled March 29, 1941
Fiume sunk March 28, 1941
Gorizia sunk June 26, 1944
Pola sunk March 29, 1941
|
3d model of Italian heavy cruiser Pola of Zara class.
|
