Continuing the theme of Italian heavy cruisers, we move from Trento to Zaram.
Zara was a more thoughtful job. Italian shipbuilders very seriously approached the work on the last four of the cruisers allowed by the Washington Treaty, so seriously that … they decided to deceive everyone!
In general, by the beginning of the construction of these ships, based on the experience of building the Trento and Trieste, it became clear that it was simply unrealistic to create a sane and balanced ship within 10,000 contractual tons.
Therefore, the Italians decided to cheat. The idea of creating a "killer of Washington cruisers" was in the air and the Italian command liked very much, but Italy was not ready to go straight to confrontation with the "Washington club" by creating such ships. It became clear that for such killer cruisers, the displacement was just starting at 15,000 tons.
The intestine turned out to be thin, and rightly so. But you can always cheat a little. The Italians announced that everything is sewn-covered and smooth, the displacement of the new ships is 10,000 tons, and everything is beautiful and fair.
In fact, the numbers were pretty much underestimated. The real standard displacement (how to measure) the cruisers dangled from 11,500 to 11,900 tons. And how much was complete, in general, no one still knows. The data was classified. But I think that just with a full ammunition load, all supplies and a crew, the ships pulled 14-14, 5 thousand tons easily.
So the realization of the dream to create a cruiser capable of dealing with the "Washingtonians" actually succeeded.
However, Italians wouldn’t be Italians if they hadn’t "burned" with charming spontaneity. In 1936, for some unknown reason (translated from Italian - for sloppiness) on the cruiser "Gorizia" vapors of aviation gasoline exploded and damaged the hull. The commander of the cruiser did not dare to go to the base, but made his way to Gibraltar, where he docked.
The British instantly calculated the displacement of the Gorizia and realized that there was at least 11,000 tons there. In general, it is very strange, but for some reason no sanctions and claims were followed. Either the political component forced the British to once again swallow the trick of Hitler's ally, or everyone already did not care at all about all the agreements.
So, here they are, no less beautiful than their predecessors, but they seem to have worked out mistakes. Zara, Paula, Fiume and Gorizia.
Yes, these cruisers were designed on the basis of "Trento", but with very numerous changes that were reflected even in the appearance of the ships. The most noticeable change is that the hull has become a low-sided one with a short forecastle.
Yes, such innovations could not but affect seaworthiness, but: several hundred tons and in Italy weigh a lot. And as the operation of "Trento" and "Trieste" has shown, ocean seaworthiness in the Mediterranean Sea is completely unnecessary.
They did not install torpedo tubes, the power plant from the Parsons was of a new generation, much lighter than on the Trento.
Why are the savings so crazy? But for what: the side armor belt has grown from 70 mm to 150 mm! And 150 millimeters is, forgive me, seriously. A 203 mm projectile may, of course, pierce, but anything less - sorry.
Although further in the text there will be an interesting moment on the topic "the better to pick".
And just in time for the next topic, there will be one more moment very much to the court. Historically, God knows from what time Italian ships, including cruisers, had their own mottos. There was something like a coat of arms for some, but the motto is mandatory.
"Zara" - "Persistent".
"Fiume" - "May valor not be exhausted."
"Gorizia" - "We are unperturbed in difficulties."
"Paula" - "Brave in any endeavor."
It is clear that the mottos were in Latin, but about how they corresponded to the ships … In general, be patient a little, after all, first of all, let's talk about the ships themselves.
All Zara-class cruisers had a low-sided hull with a very short (81.6 m) forecastle. The interdeck height for the entire length of the ship was 2.2 m. In total there were two solid decks - the upper and the main one, two platforms - the middle and lower decks and the forecastle deck.
The main battery deck was armored. A double bottom and 19 watertight bulkheads were located along the entire length of the hull. A longitudinal bulkhead was located in the area of the engine compartments.
In general, the cruisers had to withstand flooding up to three adjacent compartments. Unlike the Trento type, the Zar hulls did not play, that is, they did not have problems with durability.
The ships were almost identical, with the exception of the "Pola", which was planned as a flagship, because its superstructure had a slightly different shape.
The main power plant had a continuous power (at which the ship can make long voyages) of 76,000 hp machines. with., there was the possibility of forcing up to 95,000 liters. with.
On tests and measurements, the cruiser showed a speed of about 32 knots, but like its predecessors, the operating speed during service was in the region of 29-30 knots.
Armament.
The main caliber of the Zara-class cruisers consisted of 8 203 mm guns, placed in pairs in 4 towers. The towers were installed in a linear-elevated pattern, two each in the bow and stern. Everything is exactly the same as at Trento.
But the guns were already somewhat different: 203-mm guns of the Ansaldo system, model 1927 (Ansaldo Mod. 1927). Compared with the guns of the previous model (model 1924), the volume of the charging chamber, working pressure, muzzle velocity and firing range were increased.
The muzzle velocity of the armor-piercing projectile was 900 m / s, the high-explosive projectile was 930 m / s. Firing range 31,300 m.
In terms of towers, the Italians decided not to change anything, because it was impossible to design a new tower, time was really pressing. And it seems that new trunks were placed in the old towers. And the Zary inherited the same problems as the Trento differed: two barrels in one cradle, which, when fired, gave an additional incentive to scatter shells. And if a good shell hit the turret, both guns could be lost.
The main caliber fire control system consisted of two command and rangefinder posts, the upper one on the top of the foremast, the lower one on the roof of the conning tower. The equipment of the command and rangefinder post included a stereo rangefinder with a base of 5 meters. The data obtained at the command and rangefinder posts were processed at the central artillery post.
A backup fire control system of the main caliber with control from the towers was also envisaged. For this, the elevated towers of the 203-mm guns had their own stereo range finders with a base of 7 meters and the simplest computing devices.
The following main fire control schemes were worked out by the Italian artillerymen:
1) All 4 towers fire according to the data of the 1st command and rangefinder post (upper) according to the normal scheme (using all data processed by the central firing machine).
2) All 4 towers fire using data from the 2nd command and rangefinder post (backup target guidance).
3) Aft towers use data from KDP No. 1, bow KDP No. 2.
4) The towers are divided into two groups (bow and stern) with fire control from elevated towers.
5) All towers fire independently.
On paper, everything looks quite good, practice … The practice was sad.
The universal artillery consisted of the same frankly old 100-mm mounts with OTO Mod guns. 1927. Development on the basis of the Czech K11 gun from "Skoda", with them the battleships of the already defunct Austria-Hungary went with them, the Italian gun differed from the original with a lined barrel.
The gun had a rate of fire of 8-10 rds / min, an initial projectile speed of 840 m / s, a maximum firing range of 15 240 m (an elevation angle of 45 degrees), an altitude reach of 8500 m (an elevation angle of 85 degrees). In general, so-so.
The guns were installed in paired installations and could fire at both air and surface targets. The efficiency was below average, therefore, at the end of the 30s, the feed installations were gladly replaced with 37-mm submachine guns.
The anti-aircraft armament originally consisted of four 40-mm Vickers-Terney assault rifles of the 1915/1917 model (licensed copy of the British Pom-Pom) and four coaxial 13, 2-mm Breda M1931 machine guns.
Torpedo tubes were not installed, as mentioned above.
Each cruiser could take on board three seaplanes, but usually they took two due to the poor location of the hangar and catapult. The hangar was located below the forecastle deck in front of the bow tower, there was a catapult right in front of the hangar, and the standard third seaplane usually had to be located immediately on the catapult.
But in this position, the plane made the angle of fire for the first turret of the main caliber very difficult.
An interesting point: a crane for lifting aircraft was not installed, so the aircraft were disposable. After takeoff and completing the mission, the pilot had to fly to the nearest airfield and land there on water or land.
In general, compared to the Trento, the armament has not become better.
And finally, for the sake of which the whole vegetable garden was fought with deception and the elimination of torpedo armament and an aircraft crane.
Armor. The Zara-class heavy cruisers had the most powerful armor among their “crippled colleagues” and “Washington” cruisers.
The thickness of the armor belt was 150 mm, in the lower third it was reduced to 100 mm. In height, the armor belt reached the main deck and dropped 1.5 m below the waterline.
A flat main armored deck rested on the upper edge of the main belt. It consisted of slabs 70 mm thick above the artillery cellars and power plant compartments and 65 mm at the sides (above the double bottom compartments).
Above the citadel thus formed, there was a second citadel. It consisted of a 30-mm armor belt and a 20-mm armor deck, the main purpose of which was to strip off armor-piercing caps.
The front plates of the main caliber towers were 150 mm thick, the side plates were 75 mm thick, and the roof plates were 70 mm thick. The barbets of the towers were 150 mm thick above the upper deck, 140 mm between the upper and main decks, and 120 mm below the main deck. The thickness of the armor along the entire perimeter of the barbet was uniform.
The conning tower was protected by 150mm perimeter armor, with an 80mm roof and 70mm bottom. The inner diameter of the conning tower is 3.3 m. Above the conning tower there was a rotating command and rangefinder post of the main caliber. The inner diameter of the KDP is 3.5 m. It was protected by 130 mm armor along the perimeter, 100 mm from the top, 15 mm from the bottom.
The total weight of the armor of each cruiser was 2,688 tons. It was believed that the armor of the Zara-class heavy cruisers was capable of withstanding British 203mm armor-piercing shells ranging from 65 to 125 cable (12 to 23 km). But the war made some adjustments of its own.
In general, the battle path of the cruisers was not very rich. Yes, they took part in all the few operations of the Italian fleet, but they were completely unsuccessful.
Zara.
It was laid down on July 4, 1929, launched on April 27, 1930, and entered the fleet on October 20, 1937.
The ship's pre-war service was not accompanied by special noteworthy events - he participated in exercises, parades and visited various Mediterranean ports.
In April 1939 he took part in the occupation of Albania. On January 13, 1940, all Zara-class heavy cruisers became part of the 1st cruiser division of the 2nd squadron (reconnaissance forces).
When Italy entered World War II, the Zara covered the laying of mines between Lampedusa Island and the Kerkenna Bank. On June 13-14, he went out to intercept British ships conducting an operation off the African coast. There was no meeting with the enemy. I was looking for an enemy in French communications. Not found. July 9 participated in a battle with the British Mediterranean Fleet. He shot, but did not hit anyone.
In general, the service was like this … They did not beat the lying ones, and thank God. Until it came to the battle at Cape Matapan, where the Italians flew from dispersal into a trap set up by the British, who deciphered the negotiations with the help of the Enigma.
The battleship "Vittorio Veneto", eight cruisers, including "Fiume", "Pola" and "Zara", accompanied by several destroyers were to destroy the convoys off the coast of Greece in coordinated actions. And they swooped down on almost the entire British Mediterranean fleet awaiting them …
On the morning of March 28, 1941, the Italian formation entered into battle with the British cruisers, but then, without waiting for the promised German air cover, they began to retreat to the base.
The Italian ships were under constant attack by British aircraft, both deck and coastal. In the evening the torpedo bomber "Swordfish" torpedoed the cruiser "Pola", which lost its speed. The rest of the ships went ahead.
Soon, Admiral Iakino ordered the cruisers of the 1st Division to return to the damaged cruiser and provide assistance. The commander of the formation did not know that he was being pursued by enemy battleships. "Zara", "Fiume" and 4 destroyers went on the opposite course.
The cruisers did not go into battle, and therefore only half of the crews were at the combat posts, and the crews of the aft towers of the main caliber were preparing towing cables with the whole composition.
At about 22:00 the British discovered the cruiser and at 2230 opened artillery fire. All three British battleships, Worspeight, Valiant and Barham, fired on the Zara.
The British have always been able to shoot. Therefore, within a few minutes, the 381-mm guns Zara, which came under precise fire, burned like dawn. Hits in the bow tower, bridge, engine room deprived the cruiser of progress, and he began to roll to the left side.
Soon the battleships ceased fire and withdrew from the battle, apparently believing that the Zarya had come to an end. What happened on the burning and sinking cruiser is not known for certain, the rest of the crew clearly fought for survivability, but alas, no luck.
At about 2 am on March 29, the Zara was discovered by the destroyer Jervis, who finished it off with torpedoes. Almost the entire crew was killed, along with the division commander, Admiral Catteneo.
Fiume.
Laid down on April 29, 1929, launched on April 27, 1930, entered the fleet on November 21, 1931.
During the Spanish Civil War, he helped the nationalists. In April 1939, Fiume took part in the occupation of Albania. The first operation in World War II was to cover a mine setting together with the Zara, then until the end of June the cruiser made two exits as part of the formation: to intercept the British squadron and search on French communications. There was no meeting with the enemy.
On July 9, Fiume took part in the battle at Calabria (Punto Stilo), fired at British ships, but did not hit anyone. He spent the rest of the year escorting North African convoys.
On November 27, 1940, during the British Operation Kollar, Italian ships engaged the British Formation H. The fight was indecisive and without result.
Participated in the battle at Cape Matapan. On 28 March at 2230 hours, the Fiume, following the Zara, received a full side salvo from the battleship Worspite and a salvo from the bow turrets of the battleship Valiant, followed by another salvo from the Worspite.
The cruiser was practically destroyed, stayed on the water for another half an hour and sank at about 23 hours, taking with it most of the crew.
"Paula".
Laid down on March 17, 1931, launched on December 5, 1931, commissioned on December 21, 1932. The ship's pre-war service was usual: cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, visits to their ports, visits to foreign ports, exits to exercises.
In 1936-1938, the cruiser "Pola" provided assistance to the troops of General Franco, accompanied transports with weapons.
The first military operation was to cover a mine laying on the night of June 11-12, along with sisterships. A day later, an exit to intercept the enemy squadron took place. On June 22, 1940, the Italian fleet made another exit to intercept the enemy fleet. There was no meeting with the enemy.
The next exit of all the combat-ready forces of the Italian fleet, guarding the convoy, ended in a battle with the British fleet at Calabria (Punto Stilo). The cruiser spent the rest of the summer escorting convoys to Africa.
Took part on November 27, 1940 in the battle with the British formation "H" at Teulada. "Pola" fired 18 volleys from the main battery guns, but did not hit anyone. During the withdrawal, the cruiser was attacked by torpedo aircraft from the Ark Royal aircraft carrier, but Pola fought back and dodged the torpedoes.
On December 14, the port of Naples, in which the ships were located, was attacked by British aircraft. One of the bombs hit the cruiser. The 3rd boiler room was destroyed, and the "Pola" was sent for repairs, from which she left just at that time to take part in the battle at Cape Matapan.
On March 28, after a short battle with cruisers, the Italian formation began to withdraw, being attacked by enemy deck and coastal aircraft. At first the attacks were repulsed very successfully, but then the British torpedoes hit the flagship battleship Vittorio Veneto. The speed of the squadron slowed down, and the British managed to refuel and repeat the raid. They were torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier Formidebl.
This time, the Italians were unlucky, and the "Paula" received a torpedo to the starboard side between the engine and boiler rooms.
Three compartments were instantly filled with water, power went out, cars stopped. Somehow it turned out to inform the squadron commander, Admiral Iakino, that "Pola" was completely immobilized and defenseless.
After receiving information about the incident, the commander of the Italian formation ordered the remaining ships of the 1st division ("Zara" and "Fiume") to go to the aid of the damaged brother. When approaching the place of drift, the "Floors" of the cruiser were found and destroyed. The culprit himself peacefully drifted until about 2 am he was discovered by the British destroyers Jervis and Nubian, who finished off the cruiser with torpedoes and took the crew.
"Gorizia".
The only ship in the series that did not take part in the battle at Cape Matapan.
Laid down on March 17, 1930, launched on December 28, 1931, entered the fleet on December 23, 1931.
The ship participated in helping the Francoists and the occupation of Albania. The first operation of World War II was to cover a mine laying on the night of June 11-12, 1940.
"Gorizia" as part of the formation went out to intercept the British compound and search on French communications, took part in the battle at Punto Stilo (Calabria), escorted North African convoys. He went to sea as part of a squadron to counter the British Operation Hats.
On November 27, 1940, "Gorizia" took part in the battle with the British formation "H", which went down in history as the battle at Teulada. In this battle, the cruiser fired 18 volleys with her main battery guns without getting hits. Some time after the battle, "Gorizia" got up for scheduled repairs, which apparently saved her from Matapan. The renovation lasted until the summer of 1941.
Since the rest of the division's cruisers had already died by this time, "Gorizia" was enrolled in the 3rd division. Then she regularly participated in countering the British convoy operations "Mensmith", "Halebard", "M-41", "M-42".
The battle, which went down in history as the "first battle in the Syrt Gulf", took place during Operation M-42. In this battle, the Gorizia managed to hit the British destroyer with its main caliber, but the destroyer was able to escape in the ensuing darkness.
Further, the cruiser took part in convoy operations, but the outbreak of the fuel crisis doomed almost the entire Italian fleet to complete inactivity. This was taken advantage of by the Americans, who began regular raids on the Italian anchorages of ships.
On December 4, 1942, American aircraft attacked the Italian naval base in Naples. The Royal Italian Navy lost 1 cruiser and 2 more were damaged.
To avoid a repetition of such an outrage, the heavy cruisers Trieste and Gorizia were transferred from Messina (Sicily) to Maddalena (Sardinia). It did not help, and on April 10, 1943, this base was attacked by American aircraft, which sank the heavy cruiser Trieste. The Gorizia was heavily damaged by a direct hit from 3 bombs. On April 13, she was towed to La Spezia for repairs.
On September 9, the cruiser, along with all of Northern Italy, fell into German hands. The question of its repair and inclusion in the German fleet was not even considered. On June 26, 1944, the Gorizia was blown up by a British-Italian group of combat swimmers. The British command feared that it would be flooded in the entrance channel.
After the end of the war, the corps was raised and dismantled.
Here is such a peculiar fate.
Heavy cruisers of the Zara type are perhaps one of the most successful and balanced, albeit due to the tricks with the displacement of the Washington cruisers.
On the one hand, they are very beautiful ships, they could not show their fighting qualities.
The Zara-class cruisers were perfectly adapted for the Mediterranean theater of operations. The lack of seaworthiness and cruising range in its conditions for the Italian ships was not at all critical, but in terms of other capabilities they looked much more advantageous than their British classmates.
And the armor, the one that all the Washington cruisers lacked so much … If the Zaras had received normal main battery guns and normal shells, they would definitely be one of the most dangerous ships in the world.
But … in the end, most of these cruisers were shot by British battleships, against whose shells, of course, there was simply no defense. Even a decent speed did not save, because the eternal Italian disorder, which cost them three heavy cruisers, played into the hands of the British.
Well, rightly so, in principle. Cunning is not always unpunished and fruitful.
