Raimondo Montecuccoli Class

Design

The two ships authorised under the 1930/31 programme were a continued improvement of the 'Condottieri' type begun with the Barbiano class of 1928. In comparison to the preceding Cadorna class, the new ships were some 2,000 tons larger, with increased beam and length but without any noticeable increase in fighting power. However, one of the main benefits of this increase in displacement was better protection; 1,376 tons as opposed to the 578 tons of Cadorna, or 18.3 per cent of the standard displacement (8 per cent in Cadorna). This allowed an increase of 10mm in the main deck armour inside the inner longitudinal bulkhead, which itself was now 25mm in the way of the machinery spaces and 30mm abreast the magazines. The main vertical belt was increased to 60mm between the armoured deck and the platform deck, with 20mm plate extending up to the upper deck. 40mm transverse bulkheads closed off the ends of the armoured box. The barbettes of the main turrets were now given between 30 and 45mm, while above the upper deck they were 50mm (B and X). Also introduced in this class was the conical, armoured tower bridge structure incorporating a 100mm armoured conning position. The protective belt of 60mm was calculated to defeat 8in shells outside 23,000m with 25° inclination, and 6in gunfire outside 15,000m at a similar inclination.

The machinery arrangements differed little from the earlier ships, the unit layout being retained but the installed power being increased by about 11 per cent for a designed maximum speed of 37kts. However, battle-worthiness was increased by all the boilers being in individual spaces. On trials in 1935 Montecuccoli achieved 38.72kts on a displacement of 7,020 tons, with 126,099shp. Note that the displacement at this time was less than the standard displacement, and that the boilers were pressed 18 per cent over design.

There was little change in armament, except that the obsolete 40mm/39 was replaced by the new 37mm/54 grouped around the bridge tower, while the four twin 13.2mm mountings were placed around the after funnel. The aircraft fittings now included a partly rotating catapult between the funnels. Ninety-six mines could be carried, and two depth-charge throwers with twelve 50kg DCs completed the armament.

Modifications

Montecuccoli received some augmentation of the AA outfit in 1943, when the 13.2mm MGs were supplanted by twin 20mm/70 mountings to a total of twenty barrels. Later, the torpedo tubes, catapult and after rangefinders on the tripod mainmast were also landed. Attendolo appears to have received little or no modifications before her loss.

Service

These ships were delayed in their completion by alterations to their plans, and did not enter service until the summer of 1935. Two years later, after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the Royal Italian Navy decided to send Montecuccoli to the Far East to protect Italian interests in the region. The cruiser sailed from Naples on 27 August 1937 and arrived in Shanghai on 15 September, where she joined the minelayer Lepanto and the gunboat Carlotto, already on station. During her period in the orient the ship made an extensive cruise to Australia between January and March 1938, as well as visits to Japan and Hong Kong. She was then ordered home, departing Shanghai on 1 November 1938 after handing over command of the Far East Squadron to Colleoni. After her return to Naples on 7 December the ship underwent a refit at La Spezia and then joined the 8th Cruiser Division, part of the 2nd Squadron. By the beginning of 1940 she was a unit of the 7th Cruiser Division, together with her sister and Savoia and Aosta. Her early war service included the covering of minelaying sorties, offensive sweeps, the Battle of Punto Stilo/Calabria and distant cover for troop convoys to North Africa. In December she participated in the bombardment of Greek positions near Lukova, north of the Corfu Channel, with Savoia and destroyers. The following year, with other units of the 7th Division, she laid mines in a barrage off Cape Bon between 19 and 24 April 1941. In July, while forming part of the distant cover for a convoy returning from North Africa, her consort Garibaldi was hit by a torpedo from Upholder. During the course of the British Operation Mincemeat, Montecuccoli was part of the 8th Division which sortied from Palermo on 24 August to try and intercept the Malta convoy, but this was unsuccessful.

Later in the year a mining sortie planned in October to protect the approaches to Benghazi was cancelled, as it was believed that the British Fleet was out. Further convoy cover operations took up the remainder of the year, and the ship was present at the 1st Battle of Sirte while with the close cover force for Italian convoy M42 between 16 and 19 December 1941. This task continued into 1942. Then, in May, she and her 7th Division consort Savoia were transferred to Cagliari in Sardinia as one of the attempts to stop the minelayer Welshman's supply runs to Malta, but a sortie on 14 May failed to find her. However, a new convoy to Malta (Harpoon) was sailed by the British from Gibraltar on 12 June and duly reported. The two cruisers sailed from Cagliari on 13 June to intercept it, but, having been reported by submarines, put into Palermo, from where they sailed again on 14 June to attack the convoy off Pantelleria. The Italian squadron, which included five destroyers, came into action south of the island on the forenoon of the following day and broke up the convoy, sinking the destroyer Bedouin and damaging Partridge. Montecuccoli was badly damaged by 9th USAAF bombers while lying at Naples on 4 December 1942, and remained under repair until the middle of 1943. After the invasion of Sicily by the Allies, Montecuccoli and Savoia sailed from La Spezia on 4 August 1943 to bombard Allied positions at Palermo, but this was aborted when their position became known. Following the Italian capitulation, Montecuccoli sailed for Malta and then to Alexandria, being used as a fast transport ship for the remainder of the war. Postwar she was refitted as a training ship, radar being added and the AA outfit modernised. In October 1953-June 1954 the ship was further modernised when B turret was removed, and she continued in the training role until the end of the 1963 training season.

Attendolo joined the 2nd Squadron on 6 September 1935 after completion of trials, as a unit of the 7th Cruiser Division. She was still serving with this formation at the outbreak of war in 1940. Her early operations also included convoy cover and the Battle of Punto Stilo. From 3 December 1940 she was assigned to protect traffic on the Albanian routes, and from 9 December was part of the 8th Cruiser Division. On 23 December she transported three battalions of Camicia Nera to Valona. Her attachment to the 8th Division lasted until 19 February 1941, when she returned to the 7th Division. She participated in several minelaying sorties in the first half of 1941, notably off Cape Bon in April, off Tripoli in June and in the Sicilian narrows in July. She was again reassigned to the 8th Division on 21 August, being deployed with Italian forces in connection with attempts to intercept the British Operation Mincemeat between 22 and 28 of that month, and the British Operation Halberd the next month. After another return to the 7th Division on 3 October, further convoy cover work continued in November and December, including the First Battle of Sirte. Her activities in 1942 followed the same pattern, but in the course of operations against the Pedestal convoy in August she was hit by a torpedo from Unbroken off the Aeolian islands, which blew off the bows. However, she was able to make Messina, where makeshift repairs were effected before transferring to Naples for full repairs from 6 September. Unfortunately the ship was destroyed by bombs during the same USAAF raid which damaged her sister, on 4 December 1942, before repair was complete. After salvage postwar, consideration was given to rebuilding her as a modem AA cruiser, but the idea was abandoned.

Ship	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Muzio Attendolo	CRDA Trieste	10-Apr-31	09-Sep-34	07-Aug-35	Lost 4 Dec 42
Raimondo Montecuccoli	Ansaldo, Genoa	01-Oct-31	02-Aug-34	30-Jun-35	Stricken 1 Jun 64

Raimondo Montecuccoli Class Light Cruiser