Italian cruiser Giovanni delle Bande Nere

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Giovanni delle Bande Nere was an Italian light cruiser of the Template:Sclass, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She was named after the eponymous 16th-century condottiero and member of the Medici family. Her keel was laid down in 1928 at Cantieri Navali di Castellammare di Stabia, Castellammare di Stabia; she was launched on 27 April 1930, and her construction was completed in 1931. Unlike her three sisters, the finish and workmanship on the vessel were not rated highly. She was sunk on 1 April 1942 by the British submarine Template:HMS.

The Giussano type of cruiser sacrificed protection for high speed and weaponry, as a counter to new French large destroyers.

Design

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In the aftermath of World War I, the Italian {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Royal Navy) received a group of light cruisers from the defeated German and Austro-Hungarian fleets. At the time, the Italian naval command was satisfied with these vessels as a supplement to their existing scout cruisers in the immediate postwar era. After the French Navy began building twelve large destroyers of the Template:Sclass and Template:Sclasses, the Italian command responded by ordering the four Template:Sclasss.Template:Sfn The {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}s were intended to overpower the new French destroyers with superior armament and very high speed, at the expense of most armor protection.Template:Sfn

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was Template:Convert long overall, with a beam of Template:Cvt and a draft of Template:Cvt. She displaced Template:Convert at standard displacement and up to Template:Cvt at full load. The ship had a long forecastle deck that extended for the first third of the hull, before stepping down to the main deck that continued for the rest of the ship's length. Her hull was very lightly built to save weight. Her superstructure consisted of a large conning tower forward that incorporated a tripod mast and a smaller, secondary tower aft. She was fitted with an aircraft catapult on her forecastle, and could carry two reconnaissance aircraft; she initially carried CANT 25 seaplanes, but these were later replaced with IMAM Ro.43. She had a crew of 520 officers and enlisted men.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Her power plant consisted of two Belluzzo geared steam turbines powered by six oil-fired Yarrow boilers, which were ducted into two widely spaced funnels. The propulsion system was arranged on the unit system of machinery, which divided the engines and boilers into two separate pairs. Her engines were rated at Template:Convert and produced a top speed of Template:Convert. During her sea trials, she reached a top speed of Template:Convert from Template:Cvt, though in service she could only maintain a speed of Template:Convert at sea.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was armed with a main battery of eight [[152 mm/53 Italian naval gun Models 1926 and 1929|Template:Cvt Mod 26]] 53-caliber guns in four gun turrets. The turrets were arranged in superfiring pairs forward and aft. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by a battery of six [[Škoda 10 cm K10#OTO 100.2F47 History|Template:Cvt]] 47-cal. guns in twin mounts, eight Template:Cvt /54 guns in twin mounts, and eight Template:Convert guns in twin mounts. Her armament was rounded out by four Template:Cvt torpedo tubes in two twin launchers on the main deck amidships.Template:Sfn

The ship's armor belt was Template:Cvt thick, extending only for the length of the hull that contained the propulsion machinery spaces and the ammunition magazines. The belt was closed on either end by Template:Cvt transverse bulkheads and was capped by an armor deck of the same thickness. Inboard of the belt, an Template:Cvt thick inner bulkhead was intended to catch shell fragments that penetrated the main belt. The main battery turrets received Template:Cvt of protection, and her conning tower received Template:Cvt of armor plate.Template:Sfn

Service

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was built at the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Royal Shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia); her keel was laid down on 31 October 1928, the last member of the class to begin construction. She was launched on 27 April 1930, and work on the ship was completed in April 1931.Template:Sfn During the Spanish Civil War, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} operated in the western Mediterranean as part of the non-intervention patrols intended to block arms shipments to the warring factions. Later in the decade, the ship served with the Training Command.Template:Sfn

World War II

On 10 June 1940, Italy declare war on Britain and France, entering World War II on the side of Germany. At that time, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was assigned to II Division of II Squadron, along with her sister ship Template:Ship. She served as the divisional flagship under Rear Admiral Ferdinando Casardi. The two ships were moved to Palermo, Sicily, and on the evening of 10 June, they sortied to lay mines in the Strait of Sicily. On 22 June, the two cruisers departed to search for French ships that were reportedly west of Sardinia, but they returned to port two days later, having failed to locate any French vessels. By the end of the month, France had signed the Armistice of Villa Incisa, ending their participation in the war. As a result, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} were moved to Augusta in eastern Sicily. On 2–3 July, the ships carried another sweep that failed to locate any British ships, and the next day they covered a convoy from Tripoli in Italian Libya to Italy.Template:Sfn

On 7 July, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} sortied as part of the escort for a large convoy sailing to Benghazi in Libya.Template:Sfn The convoy consisted of five freighters and a passenger liner that were carrying some 2,200 men, 72 tanks, 237 other vehicles, and a large amount of supplies and fuel; these were intended to fortify the planned invasion of Egypt. II Division, along with the 10th Destroyer Squadron (which consisted of Template:Ship, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, and Template:Ship) and the torpedo boats Template:Ship, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, and Template:Ship, formed the convoy's close escort.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Significant elements of the Italian fleet were at sea as part of the convoy, which the British attempted to intercept. In the ensuing Battle of Calabria on 9 July, the ships of II Division were assigned to make sure the convoy arrived in port undamaged. The convoy arrived in Benghazi the next day, but {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} soon moved to Tripoli to avoid attacks from British aircraft based in Egypt. The Italian naval command considered sending the two cruisers to bombard British positions on the coast at Sollum, but decided against it; instead, they were to be sent to Portolago in the Dodecanese. From there, they were to attack British convoys in the Aegean Sea.Template:Sfn

Battle of Cape Spada

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{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} left Tripoli on the evening of 17 July and sailed to the north of Crete, bound for the Aegean. On the 19th, the four British destroyers Template:HMS, Template:HMS, Template:HMS, and Template:HMS were sent on an anti-submarine patrol in the area, while the Australian light cruiser Template:HMAS and the British destroyer Template:HMS searched the Gulf of Athens. At around 06:00 on 19 July, the Italians spotted the four British destroyers off Cape Spada of western Crete, which were some Template:Cvt away; Sydney and Havock were around Template:Convert to the north. The British ships immediately signaled Sydney and turned to flee at high speed. Casardi ordered his ships to pursue the retreating British ships, believing them to be part of the escort for a convoy he hoped to attack. At 06:27, the Italian cruisers opened fire on the destroyers, but the faster destroyers were able to pull out of range without having been hit.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn At around this time, a Greek freighter passed between the formations but quickly withdrew from the area.Template:Sfn

Casardi pursued the British blindly, deciding not to launch any of his reconnaissance aircraft (both because of the sea state and not wanting to slow down to launch them), and he was also not supported by any land based aircraft in the area. As a result, they had no way to know that Sydney was in the area, and when she arrived on the scene at around 07:30 and opened fire, it took the Italians completely by surprise. The Australian cruiser had opened fire from a range of about Template:Cvt while in the middle of a fog bank; almost immediately, she hit {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} near her aft funnel.Template:Sfn This hit killed four men on the deck and wounded four more.Template:Sfn The Italian cruisers quickly returned fire, but had difficulty locating the target in the fog, as they only had SydneyTemplate:'s muzzle flashes to aim at. They also rolled badly in the heavy seas, which further hampered their gun laying.Template:Sfn Captain Collins of Sydney detached Havock to join the other destroyers, Collins ordered to make a torpedo attack on the cruisers. Casardi responded by turning his ships south and then southwest to move to less restricted waters further from Crete. As the Italians withdrew, Sydney alternated fire between the two cruisers, depending on which was more visible, but she focused her fire on {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, as she was generally closer.Template:Sfn

At 08:24, Sydney struck {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} with a salvo of 152 mm shells that inflicted serious damage. The latter fell behind, which allowed the destroyers to enter effective range, and the British ships quickly neutralized {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. One of the destroyers hit her with a torpedo that blew off her bow.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Shortly thereafter, Casardi circled back at 08:50 to attempt to come to her aid, but quickly determined that the situation was hopeless, so he turned back to the west and fled at high speed.Template:Sfn Sydney, Hero, and Hasty turned to pursue {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} while the remaining destroyers finished off {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and then picked up survivors.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn During the pursuit, Sydney hit {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} once, which killed four men and wounded another twelve, and in response, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} hit Sydney once. By 09:37, the Italian cruiser had pulled far enough away from Sydney that she broke off the chase. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} thereafter returned to port at Benghazi.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Subsequent operations

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{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} joined the 4th Division on 4 December, and over the following months she escorted several convoys to North Africa, including operations with fast passenger liners. She also participated in attempts to block British convoys to Malta during this period.Template:Sfn On 8 May 1941, Giovanni delle Bande Nere took part in attack against the Operation Tiger convoy to Malta and Egypt. The British sent a convoy of five fast merchant ships carrying tanks and Hawker Hurricane fighters across the Mediterranean to Alexandria, while at the same time running another convoy from Alexandria to supply Malta in the central Mediterranean. The Italian squadron also included the light squadrons Template:Ship, Template:Ship, and Template:Ship, along with five destroyers. Unknown to the Italians, the British convoy was escorted by the battleship Template:HMS, along with other vessels; luckily for both sides, neither encountered the in bad weather.Template:Sfn

In June 1941, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and her sister Template:Ship laid a defensive minefield off Tripoli. This minefield later sank the British cruiser Template:HMS and the destroyer Template:HMS and damaged the cruisers Template:HMS and Template:HMS in December. The Italian cruisers laid additional minefields in the Strait of Sicily in July. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} became the flagship of the Special Naval Force on 20 October.Template:Sfn

In December, the Italian high command decided to use light cruisers and destroyers to conduct high-speed resupply missions to North Africa. On 9 December, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and the rest of 4th Division—her sisters {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and Template:Ship—were sent with Template:Cvt of fuel and Template:Cvt of other supplies apiece. They departed from Palermo]that morning, but had only gotten about halfway between Sicily and Tunisia by the next morning, when they were spotted by reconnaissance aircraft from Malta. They then came under air attack from British torpedo bombers, which forced them to abandon the attempt and return to Palermo. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}'s engines developed problems before the next attempt was made on 12 December, so the other two cruisers proceeded without her. This time, the two cruisers were intercepted by a group of British destroyers and were both sunk.Template:Sfn

On 3 January 1942, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was transferred to the 8th Cruiser Division. In February, she was part of the escort force for Operation K7, which saw convoys from Corfu and Messina to Tripoli.Template:Sfn

Second Battle of Sirte

The British cruiser Template:HMS, seen from Template:HMS, during the Second Battle of Sirte

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On 21 March 1942, the Italian submarine Template:Ship detected the British convoy MW.10 sailing west from Alexandria. The convoy had sailed the day before to carry supplies to Malta. On the evening of 21 March, the Italian naval command—the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}—activated a group of cruisers that included {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} to try to intercept the convoy. The squadron, which also included the heavy cruisers Template:Ship and Template:Ship, along with an escort of four destroyers, was based at Messina and was under the command of Rear Admiral Angelo Parona. The ships were to rendezvous with the fast battleship Template:Ship and another four destroyers, which had sailed from Taranto. The British were aware of the departure of the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} group, and they turned slightly south to try to avoid them, but the arrival of the cruiser group surprised them (though the British spotted the Italian ships first).Template:Sfn

In the ensuing Second Battle of Sirte, Parona made a dilatory approach, first turning north and then describing a large circle to starboard before eventually ordering his ships to fire at 14:56 at the convoy escort that had steamed to engage them, albeit at very long range. Neither side scored any hits, though {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} straddled the British cruisers Template:HMS and Template:HMS before Parona broke off the engagement at 15:15. The Italian squadrons then formed up, with the cruisers in the lead, and at 16:37, they again closed with the convoy escort in an attempt to block their route to Malta. By 16:43, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} had engaged Cleopatra and Euryalus for the second time, and she scored a hit on the former, disabling her radio and killing fifteen men. Soon thereafter, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} joined the engagement, which forced the British cruisers and destroyers to fall back, but the Italians still could not see the convoy in the heavy smoke screens. As darkness approached, the Italian fleet broke off, having been ordered to avoid a night engagement.Template:Sfn

While withdrawing to port on 23 March, the Italian fleet encountered severe storms, and Giovanni delle Bande Nere suffered damage.Template:Sfn After the ship returned to Messina, it was decided to send her to La Spezia for repairs, and she departed on 1 April, with the destroyer Template:Ship and the torpedo boat Template:Ship as escorts. The ships were intercepted by the British submarine Template:HMS about eleven miles to the southeast of Stromboli; Urge hit {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} with two torpedoes, which inflicted serious damage. Her hull broke into two sections, and she quickly sank.Template:Sfn

Discovery

On 9 March 2019, the Italian Navy reported that the minesweepers Template:Ship had discovered the wreck of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} used remotely operated vehicles (ROV) Hugin 1000 and Multipluto 03 to search for the wreck. The ROVs obtained images of the wreck that confirm the ship broke into three sections as it sank. From photos shown, at least part of the cruiser lies on its port side at a depth of Template:Cvt of water.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

References

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Further reading

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External links

• Italian light cruisers
• Giovanni delle Bande Nere Marina Militare website