WORLD WAR 2 IN REVIEW: Giussano Class: Italian Cruisers

The Alberto da Giussano class of light cruisers were a sub-class of the Condottieri class built before World War II for the Italian Regia Marina, to gain predominance in the Mediterranean Sea. They were designed by general Giuseppe Vian and were named after Condottieri (military commanders) of the Italian Mediaeval and Renaissance periods.

Between the World Wars, the world powers started a rush to gain the supremacy on the seas. In 1926, France started to produce the Le Fantasque class of destroyers, which were superior in displacement and firepower to other destroyers of that period. To counter the French menace, the Regia Marina decided to produce a new class of cruiser that would be of intermediate size between the new French destroyer class and cruisers. The Italian ships equated to the British Leander-class cruisers.

There were 4 ships, all laid down in 1928: Alberto da Giussano, Alberico da Barbiano, Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni delle Bande Nere.

Meant to hunt down and overwhelm the big French destroyers, the emphasis on firepower and speed resulted in these ships being virtually unprotected against gunfire and underwater threats; this was a major factor in all four ships being sunk by torpedoes.

*Ships of the Alberto da Giussano* Class**
Ship	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Alberico da Barbiano	Ansaldo, Genoa	16 April 1928	23 August 1930	9 June 1931	Sunk 13 December 1941, by a group of Royal Navy and Dutch destroyers during the Battle of Cape Bon.
Alberto da Giussano	Ansaldo, Genoa	29 March 1928	27 April 1930	5 February 1931
Bartolomeo Colleoni	Ansaldo, Genoa	21 June 1928	21 December 1930	10 February 1932	Sunk 19 July 1940, during the Battle of Cape Spada.
Giovanni delle Bande Nere	R. C. di Castellammare di Stabia	31 October 1928	27 April 1930	27 April 1931	Sunk 1 April 1942, torpedoed by British submarine HMS Urge while off Stromboli.

Alberto da Giussano

Alberto da Giussano (named after Alberto da Giussano, a fictional medieval military leader condottiero) was an Italian Giussano-class cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She was launched on 27 April 1930.

She participated in the normal peacetime activities of the fleet in the 1930s as a unit of the 2nd Squadron, including service in connection with the Spanish Civil War. On 10 June 1940 she was part of the 4th Cruiser Division, with the 1st Squadron, together with her sister ship Alberico da Barbiano and was present at the Battle of Punta Stilo in July. She carried out a minelaying sortie off Pantelleria in August, and for the rest of the year acted as distant cover on occasions for troop and supply convoys to North Africa.

On 12 December 1941 she left port together with her sister ship Alberico da Barbiano. Both she and her sister were being used for an emergency convoy to carry gasoline for the German and Italian mobile formations fighting with the Afrika Korps. Jerry cans and other metal containers filled with gasoline were loaded onto both cruisers and were placed on the ships' open decks. The thinking behind using these two cruisers for such a dangerous mission was that their speed would act as a protection. Nonetheless, the ships were intercepted by four Allied destroyers guided by radar on 13 December 1941, in the Battle of Cape Bon. Alberto da Giussano was able to fire only three salvos before being struck by a torpedo amidships and hit by gunfire, which left her disabled and dead in the water. After vain struggle to halt the fire, the crew had to abandon the ship, which broke in two and sank at 4.22. 283 men out of the 720 aboard lost their lives. The ship's commanding officer, Captain Giovanni Marabotto, was among the survivors.

Alberico da Barbiano

Alberico da Barbiano was an Italian Giussano-class light cruiser, that served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She was named after Alberico da Barbiano, an Italian condottiero of the 14th century.

Da Barbiano was launched on 23 August 1930. During her trials she managed to reach a speed of 42.05 knots (77.88 km/h), but to do that the propulsion was pushed to 123,479 hp (92,078 kW), far beyond the safety limits. She could only maintain this speed for about 30 minutes.

During the late 1930s, Da Barbiano participated in the Spanish Civil War, escorting Italian ships that carried supplies for the Spanish Nationalist forces the Western Mediterranean.

During World War II, Alberico Da Barbiano was part of the 4th Cruiser Division. On 9 July 1940 Da Barbiano was present at the Battle of Calabria (Punto Stilo). In summer 1940 she also participated in some escort and minelaying missions between Italy and North Africa. Due to the weakness of the class, on 1 September 1940 she was assigned as a training ship in Pola, but on 1 March 1941 was returned to active service.

In December 1941 the Italian naval staff, in the face of a deteriorating supply situation between Italy and Libya, decided to use the 4th Cruiser Division, then composed of Da Barbiano (flagship of ammiraglio di divisione Antonino Toscano, the commander of the Division) and her sistership Alberto Di Giussano, for an urgent transport mission to North Africa.

Da Barbiano and Di Giussano left Taranto at 8:15 on 5 December 1941, reached Brindisi at 17:50 and there loaded about 50 tons of supplies, then proceeded to Palermo on 8 December, where they loaded an additional 22 tons of aviation fuel, which was especially needed in Libya (otherwise, aircraft based there would soon become unable to escort incoming convoys with vital supplies). The fuel, contained in unsealed barrels, was placed on the stern deck, thus posing great danger in case of enemy attacks (not only it would be set afire by mere strafing, but even by the flames of the ships’ own guns, thus preventing the use of the stern turrets). The two cruisers sailed unescorted from Palermo at 17:20 on 9 December, heading for Tripoli, but at 22:56 they were spotted by a British reconnaissance plane north of Pantelleria. The plane, which had located Toscano's ships thanks to Ultra intercepts, started to shadow them. At 23:55 Toscano (who was at that time in the middle of the Sicilian Channel), since the surprise (required for the success of the mission) had vanished, heavy enemy radio traffic foreshadowed upcoming air strikes, and worsening sea conditions would delay his ships, further exposing them to British attacks, decided to turn back to base. Da Barbiano and Di Giussano reached Palermo at 8:20 on 10 December, after overcoming a British air attack off Marettimo. Toscano was heavily criticized by Supermarina for his decision to abort the mission.

As for 13 December a new convoy operation, called M. 41, was planned, and the air cover by aircraft based in Libya would only be possible if they received new fuel, on 12 December it was decided that the 4th Division would attempt again the trip to Tripoli. The cruiser Bande Nere was to join Da Barbiano and Di Giussano to carry more supplies, but she was prevented from sailing by a breakdown, thus her cargo had to be transferred to the other two cruisers. Da Barbiano and Di Giussano were overall loaded with 100 tons of aviation fuel, 250 tons of gasoline, 600 tons of naphtha and 900 tons of food stores, as well as 135 ratings on passage to Tripoli. As the stern of Da Barbiano (and, to a lesser extent, Di Giussano) was packed with fuel barrels, so thickly that it was not possible anymore to bring the guns to bear, Toscano held a last assembly with his staff and officers from both ships, where it was decided that, in case of encounter with enemy ships, the barrels would be discarded overboard, and then the cruisers would open fire (otherwise, the fuel would have been set afire by the firing of the cruisers' own guns). Da Barbiano, Di Giussano and their only escort, the Spica-class torpedo boat Cigno (a secondo torpedo boat, Climene, was left in the port due to a breakdown), sailed from Palermo at 18:10 on 12 December. The 4th Division was ordered to pass northwest of the Aegadian Islands and then head for Cape Bon and follow the Tunisian coast; the ships would keep a speed of 22-23 knots (not more, because they were to spare part of their own fuel and deliver it at Tripoli). Air cover, air reconnaissance and defensive MAS ambushes were planned to safeguard the mission.

The British 4th Destroyer Flotilla, consisting of the destroyers HMS Sikh, HMS Maori, HMS Legion and the Dutch destroyer Hr. Ms. Isaac Sweers, (Commander G. H. Stokes), had departed Gibraltar on 11 December, to join the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria. By 8 December, the British had de-coded Italian C-38 wireless signals about the Italian supply operation and its course for Tripoli. The RAF sent a Wellington bomber on a reconnaissance sortie to sight the ships as a deception and on 12 December, the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, heading east from Gibraltar towards the Italian ships, was ordered to increase speed to 30 kn (35 mph; 56 km/h) and intercept. In the afternoon of 12 December, a CANT Z. 1007 bis of Regia Aeronautica spotted the four destroyers heading east at an estimated speed of 20 knots, 60 miles off Algiers; Supermarina was immediately informed but calculated that, even in the case the destroyers would increase their speed to 28 knots, they would have reached Cape Bon around 3:00 AM on 13 December, about one hour after the 4th Division, so Toscano (who learned of the sighting while he was still in harbor) was not ordered to increase speed or alter course to avoid them. Following new Ultra decodes, a new reconnaissance plane was sent and spotted Toscano's ships at sunset on 12 December, after which the 4th Destroyer Flotilla was directed to intercept the two cruisers, increasing speed to 30 knots. This speed, along with a one-hour delay that the 4th Division had accrued (and that Toscano omitted to report to Supermarina), frustrated all previous Supermarina calculations about the advantage that the 4th Division would have. At 22:23 Toscano was informed that he would possibly meet "enemy steamers coming from Malta", and at 23:15 he ordered action stations.

The 4th Destroyer Flotilla sighted the Italian cruisers near Cap Bon, at 02:30 on 13 December. At 2:45 on 13 December, seven miles off Cape Bon, the Italian ships heard the noise of a British plane (a radar-equipped Vickers Wellington, which located the ships and informed Stokes about their position), and at 3:15 they altered course to 157° to pass about one mile off Cape Bon. Five minutes later, Toscano suddenly ordered full speed ahead and to alter course to 337°, effectively reversing course; this sudden change disrupted the Italian formation, as neither Cigno (which was about two miles ahead of the cruisers) neither Di Giussano (which was following Da Barbiano in line) received the order, and while Di Giussano saw the flagship reverse course and imitated her (but remained misaligned), Cigno did not noticed the change till 3:25, when she also reversed course, but remained much behind the two cruisers. The reasons for Toscano's decision of reverse course have never been fully explained: it has been suggested that, upon realizing that he had been spotted by aircraft, he decided to turn back like on 9 December (but in this case, a course towards the Aegadian islands would have made more sense, instead that the northwesterly course ordered by Toscano; and the change was suddenly ordered more than 30 minutes after the cruisers had been spotted); that he wanted to mislead the reconnaissance plane about his real course, wait for it to go away, and then go back on the previous course to Tripoli; that he thought from the noise that torpedo bombers were coming, and he wanted to get in more open waters (farther away from the shore and the Italian minefields) to obtain more freedom of maneuver; or that he had spotted the Allied destroyers astern and, not wanting to present his stern to them (as the aft turrets were unusable and most fuel was stowed there), he decided to reverse course to fire on them with his bow turrets (upon ordering the change of course, he also ordered the gunners to keep ready).

Stokes's destroyers were, indeed, just off Cape Bon by then, and they had spotted the Italian ships. Arriving from astern, under the cover of darkness and using radar, the British ships sailed close inshore and surprised the Italians who were further out to sea, by launching torpedoes from short range. The course reversal accelerated the approach between the two groups, and the Allied destroyers attacked together; Sikh fired her guns and four torpedoes against Da Barbiano (the distance was less than 1,000 meters) and Legion did the same, while Maori and Isaac Sweers attacked Di Giussano. Toscano ordered full speed and to open fire (and also, to Di Giussano, to increase speed to 30 knots) and Da Barbiano also started a turn to port (on orders from the ship's commanding officer, Captain Giorgio Rodocanacchi), but at 3:22, before her guns were able to fire (only some machine guns managed to), the cruiser was hit by a torpedo below the forwardmost turret, which caused her to list to port. Da Barbiano was then raked with machine gun fire, which killed or wounded many men and set fire to the fuel barrels, and hit by a second torpedo in the engine room. At 3.26 Maori also fired two torpedoes at Da Barbiano, and opened fire with her guns, hitting the bridge. Moments after, the cruiser was hit by another torpedo in the stern (possibly launched by Legion); meanwhile, Di Giussano was disabled as well. Da Barbiano rapidly listed to port, while the fires quickly spread all over the ship and also into the sea, fueled by the floating fuel, and the crew started to abandon ship. At 3:35, Da Barbiano capsized and sank in a sea of flame. 534 men, including Admiral Antonino Toscano, the commander of Italian Fourth Naval Division, his entire staff and the commanding officer of Alberico Da Barbiano, Captain Giorgio Rodocanacchi, were lost with the ship. 250 survivors reached the Tunisian coast or were picked up by rescuing vessels.

Da Barbiano's wreck was located in 2007 by an Italian expedition.

Bartolomeo Colleoni

Bartolomeo Colleoni was an Italian Giussano-class light cruiser, that served in the Regia Marina during World War II. It was named after Bartolomeo Colleoni, an Italian military leader of the 15th century.

Colleoni was launched on December 21, 1930. Bartolomeo Colleoni served in the Mediterranean until November 1938, when she sailed to relieve the cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli in the Far East. She arrived off Shanghai on 23 December 1938, and remained there until the outbreak of war between Britain and France and Germany. On 1 October, having turned over command in the Far East to the Lepanto, the cruiser returned home, where she arrived on 28 October.

Together with the cruiser Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Colleoni formed the 2nd Cruiser Division in the 2nd Squadron. Her first operation was a minelaying sortie on 10 June 1940 in the Sicilian Channel, followed by troop convoy cover duties between Naples and Tripoli in July.

On 17 July the ship sailed from Tripoli, accompanied by Bande Nere, bound for Leros in the Aegean, where British activities in Greek waters were causing concern. In the early hours of 19 July, while off Cape Spada (Crete), the Italian squadron, having been reported by RAF aircraft the previous day, was intercepted by the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and five destroyers. During the ensuing engagement Colleoni was struck in the engine room by a shell from Sydney, which knocked out the boilers and immobilized her. This left her an easy target for the torpedoes of the British destroyers HMS Ilex and HMS Hyperion. She sank with the loss of 121 sailors.

Despite their speed advantage, the Italian cruisers failed to outrun Sydney because the most obvious route of escape to the south was to be changed to south-southwest, in order to avoid being trapped between the enemy and the shores of Crete. This gave the Australian cruiser the chance to close the range, as she did. The light armor of Colleoni was unable to defeat Sydney's rounds. The lack of aerial reconnaissance was another factor contributing to the Allies' successful chase.

Giovanni delle Bande Nere

Giovanni dalle Bande Nere was an Italian light cruiser of the Giussano class, 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 HMS Urge.

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

Bande Nere's service was entirely in the Mediterranean, initially as a precaution during the Spanish Civil War and afterwards in the Navy Ministry's Training Command. At the outbreak of Italy's war in June 1940, she formed the 2nd Cruiser Division with Luigi Cadorna. She did some mine-laying in the Sicilian Channel on 10 June and in July covered troop convoys to North Africa.

Bande Nere and Bartolomeo Colleoni, en route from Tripoli to Leros, took part in the Battle of Cape Spada (17 July 1940), when the light protection was clearly exposed. In the fight between the two Italian light cruisers and the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney with five British destroyers, the Allies sank Colleoni and damaged Bande Nere. Colleoni was disabled by a shell that penetrated to her engine room, allowing the destroyers to torpedo and sink her. Bande Nere scored a hit on Sydney and returned to Tripoli.

From December 1940 into 1941, she was assigned to the 4th Cruiser Division and covered several important troop convoys and attempts to interdict Malta. In June 1941, Bande Nere and Alberto da Giussano laid a defensive minefield off Tripoli which, in December, effectively destroyed the hitherto aggressive and successful British Force K; a cruiser and a destroyer were sunk and two more cruisers damaged. Further minelaying was done in July in the Sicilian Channel.

In 1942, Bande Nere continued to support Italian convoys and interdict British ones. The Italian operation K7 ran supplies from Messina and Corfu to Tripoli with heavy naval support and there was an attempt to block the British convoy MW10, which led to the Second Battle of Sirte on 22 March 1942. Bande Nere was part of the battleship Littorio's flotilla. The Italian cruiser scored a hit on a British counterpart HMS Cleopatra during this engagement, damaging her after turrets. Other reports state that Cleopatra's radar and radio installations were disabled.

On 23 March, Bande Nere was damaged in storms and, needing repairs, was sent to La Spezia on 1 April 1942. While en route, she was hit by two torpedoes from the submarine HMS Urge, broke in two and sank with the loss of 381 men.

During the war, Bande Nere participated in 15 missions: four interceptions, eight convoy escorts, and three mine layings, for an overall total of 35,000 miles.

1940

7 July: Battle of Calabria

19 July: Battle of Cape Spada

1941

8 May: attack against Tiger convoy

1942

21 February: operation K 7 (convoy escort to Libya)

22 March: Second Battle of Sirte

On the morning of 1 April 1942, Bande Nere left Messina for La Spezia, escorted by the destroyer Aviere and patrol boat Libra. Eleven miles from Stromboli, at 0900, the group was intercepted by the British submarine Urge; a torpedo broke the Bande Nere into two sections, and she sank quickly with the loss of 381 of the 772 men aboard.

On 9 March 2019 it was reported that an Italian Navy minesweeper had discovered the wreck of Bande Nere. From photos shown, at least part of the cruiser lies on its port side in 1,400 meters of water.

Cruiser Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Bartolomeo Colleoni, Alberto di Giussano, Luigi Cadorna, Armando Diaz, Genoa, May 1938.

Cruisers Alberico da Barbiano and Alberto di Giussano docked side by side in the 1930s.

Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice.

Cruiser Alberto da Giussano.

Cruiser Alberto Di Giussano at Venice in the late 1930s.

Cruiser Alberto da Giussano.

Cruiser Alberto da Giussano, 1935.

Cruiser Alberto da Giussano.

Cruiser Alberto da Giussano, off Genoa, September 19, 1930.

Cruiser Alberto da Giussano, Messina, late summer 1941.

Italian Cruiser Alberico da Barbiano.

Cruiser Alberico da Barbiano.

Italian Cruiser Alberico da Barbiano.

Italian Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni.

Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni.

Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni, April 30, 1934.

Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni, Genoa, May 30, 1938.

Large ships from left to right: USS Augusta (CA-31), HMS Birmingham (British Light Cruiser, 1937), Lamotte-Picquet (French Light Cruiser, 1926), USS Chaumont (AP-5), Bartolomeo Colleoni (Italian Cruiser). "Man of War Row" in the Whangpoo (Huangpu) River, Shanghai, China. The Siccawei Observatory signal tower is in the left foreground. Taken off the Bund at Shanghai, China late May or early June 1939.

Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni under attack from HMAS Sydney and destroyer flotilla.

Cruiser Colleoni under shell fire.

Cruiser Colleoni under fire.

Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni.

Cruiser Colleoni with smoke pouring from her superstructure. She is on fire and her bow has been destroyed after receiving several hits during an encounter with HMAS Sydney on 19 July 1940.