Condottieri-class cruiser

The Condottieri class was a sequence of five light cruiser classes of the Regia Marina (Italian Navy), although these classes show a clear line of evolution. They were built before World War II to gain predominance in the Mediterranean Sea. The ships were named after condottieri (military commanders) of Italian history.

Each class is known after the first ship of the group:

Giussano-class cruiser:
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Alberto di Giussano
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Alberico da Barbiano
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Bartolomeo Colleoni
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Giovanni delle Bande Nere

Cadorna class:
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Luigi Cadorna
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Armando Diaz

Montecuccoli class:
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Raimondo Montecuccoli
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Muzio Attendolo

Duca d'Aosta class:
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Eugenio di Savoia

Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi class:
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi
 * ITALIAN CRUISER Giuseppe Garibaldi

Evolution
The first group, the four Giussanos, were built to counter the French large destroyers (contre-torpilleurs), the first being the 2,500 ton Le Fantasque-class, and therefore they featured very high speed, in exchange for virtually no armour protection.

The following two Cadornas retained the main characteristics, with minor improvements to stability and hull strength.

Major changes were introduced for the next pair, the Montecuccolis. About 2,000 tons heavier, they had significantly better protection, and upgraded power-plants to maintain the required high speed.

The two Duca d'Aostas continued the trend, thickening the armour and improving the power plant again.

The final pair, the Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzis completed the transition, sacrificing a little speed for good protection (their armour scheme was the same of the Zara-class cruiser heavy cruisers) and for two more 6-inch /55 guns.

Service
All ships served in the Mediterranean during World War II.

The ships of the first two subclasses (with the exception of ITALIAN CRUISER Luigi Cadorna) were all lost by 1942, primarily to enemy torpedoes (with ITALIAN CRUISER Bartolomeo Colleoni sunk by destroyers at the Battle of Cape Spada after being crippled by HMAS Sydney (D48), ITALIAN CRUISER Alberico da Barbiano and ITALIAN CRUISER Alberto di Giussano suffering a similar fate at in a night action of the Battle of Cape Bon, ITALIAN CRUISER Giovanni delle Bande Nere sunk by British submarine HMS Urge, and ITALIAN CRUISER Armando Diaz sunk by the British submarine HMS Upright) that led many authors (including Preston) to question their real value as fighting ships. The subsequent vessels fared considerably better with all surviving the war, except ITALIAN CRUISER Muzio Attendolo (torpedoed in August 1942 and sunk by an Allied bombing in December 1942).

After the end of the war, ITALIAN CRUISER Eugenio di Savoia and ITALIAN CRUISER Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta were given to the Greek Navy and the Soviet Navy respectively as war reparations; Luigi Cadorna was quickly stricken, ITALIAN CRUISER Raimondo Montecuccoli became a training ship, and the Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi subclass served on in the Marina Militare until the 1970s, with ITALIAN CRUISER Giuseppe Garibaldi becoming the first European guided missile cruiser in 1961.