Scouts (cruisers): Leone, Tigre, Pantera (+Leopardo, Lince cancelled 1920) 1921-1941 The last “Esploratori” (scouts) were ordered in 1917 but built after WWI due to shortages, and largely inspired by the previous 1916 Mirabello class. They were almost an up-scaling with heavier guns, capable of 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). They were re-rated as destroyers … Read more
Scouts (Cruisers, then destroyers) Carlo Mirabello, Carlo Alberto Racchia, Augusto Riboty 1916-1951 The Mirabello class were a group of three scout cruisers built for the Regia Marina in WWI. Very active in the Adriatic, they survived it. Carlo Alberto Racchia hit a mine in the Black Sea during the Allied intervention (Russian Civil War) by … Read more
Italy (1922-43)- 26 cruisers Best Italian cruisers ever ? The Capitani Romani-class was a class of light cruisers acting as flotilla leaders for the Regia Marina (Italian Navy). They were built to outrun and outgun the large new French destroyers of the Le Fantasque and Mogador classes. 12 hulls were ordered by late 1939, but … Read more
Italy (1935), Duca D’Aosta, Eugenio di Savoia The middle Condottiere The group IV of the Condottieri cruisers “superclass” included the Emanuele Filiberto Duca d’Aosta (1934) and Eugenio di Savoia (1935), very similar in design and appearance to the previous Raimondo Montecuccoli class. These fleet cruisers were the last armed with “only” (given their tonnage) eight … Read more
Group III “Condotierri” light cruisers Italy (1934), Raimondo Montecuccoli, Muzio Attendolo A brand new cruiser design The four cruisers of groups III and IV were relatively similar, the Raimondo Montecuccoli class (with Muzio Attendolo), and the Emanuele Filiberto Duca d’Aosta soon after all were launched between 1934 and 1935. They were all very similar in … Read more
Italy (1914-1943)- 62 TBs The Regia Marina like the Kriegsmarine did not brushed out the torpedo boat class as obsolete. On the contrary, this smaller and cheaper type could replace destroyers well in the confined waters of the central Mediterranean, notably for escort missions. In addition to all the vintage WW1 vessels reclassified as Torpedinieri, … Read more
Italy (1931)- Heavy Cruisers Zara, Pola, Gorizia, Fiume. The best protected Italian cruisers ? – The four Zara class cruisers for most authors and historians are the most famous, well-known Italian cruisers of the Second World War. Of course because they were in the other end of British barrel mouths at Matapan, but also due … Read more
Italy (1922-43)- 26 cruisers Transalpine Cruisers: Grace and speed under the eagle The Regia Marina surprised everyone, soon after the country was united in the 1880s by its unusual and powerful ships, made by famous naval engineers such as Benedetto Brin. Due to the isolation and weakness of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in an Adriatic under … Read more
Italy (1915-42) – 8 Battleships Italian Battleships during WW2 were few in numbers, just as French ones, due to the treaty of Washington signed in 1920. But the Regia Marina tried to maintain more than a parity with its Transalpine rival in the Mediterranean, its WW1 capital ships were completely modernized in a way few … Read more
Kingdom of Italy (1937-40) – Battleships Littorio, Veneto, Roma, Impero The Duce’s mighty battleships: Italy had to wait after the expiration of the Washington treaty ban to start its first modern battleship class, and accommodations by the treaty of London. The Littorio class was designed to answer another ship’s class specifically, the French Dunkirk class, … Read more
