Trieste (Italian heavy cruiser)

Type

Heavy Cruiser

Period

20th Century

Nation

Italy

Overview: Trieste was a Trento-class heavy cruiser of Italy's Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy), the second of two ships in the class named for cities annexed from Austria-Hungary after World War I. She is notable among modelers as a fast, thinly-armored "tin-clad" cruiser typical of the interwar Washington Naval Treaty era. Specifications: Built by Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino, laid down in June 1925, launched October 1926, and commissioned December 1928, she displaced up to about 13,326 long tons at full load and measured roughly 197 meters in length. Her main battery consisted of eight 203 mm (8 in) guns supplemented by 100 mm secondary guns, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, and torpedo tubes, while carrying two IMAM Ro.43 seaplanes. Armor was notably light, with only a 70 mm belt, a tradeoff made to achieve very high speed within treaty displacement limits. Service History: Trieste served as flagship of the Italian Navy's Third Naval Division from 1934 and escorted Italian shipping during the Spanish Civil War. After Italy entered World War II she saw extensive action against British forces in the Mediterranean, including the battles of Calabria, Cape Spartivento, and Cape Matapan. In November 1941 she was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS Utmost and spent roughly a year under repair before being sunk on 10 April 1943 by American B-24 bombers while in port at La Maddalena, Sardinia. Notable Facts: Despite being designed for a treaty-mandated top speed of 36 knots, in practice Trieste and her sister Trento could only reach about 31 knots in service, the same as the more heavily armored Zara-class cruisers built afterward in response to criticism of the Trento class's weak protection. After the war her wreck was salvaged and sold to Spain, where a conversion to a light aircraft carrier was planned but ultimately abandoned before the hull was scrapped.