Trieste Heavy Cruiser

The Trieste heavy cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy belonged to the Trento class. She was armed with four 203-mm naval guns, which were set up in two fore turrets. She was laid down at Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard near the port of Trieste. She was launched on October 24, 1926. After two years of sea trials, she was finally commissioned on December 21, 1928.

The Trieste of the Regia Marina (Royal Navy) would be designated flagship of the First Naval Squadron, and, together with her sister-ship Trento, she cruised the Northern Mediterranean Sea for about two years. Later, at the shipyard of La Spezia, she would have her foremast rebuilt, from a tripod to a pentapod structure. In 1937, she joined Benito Mussolini's colonial trip to Libya. When WW2 broke out, she was at port, undergoing light armament modifications and replacement of the funnel cap.

When Italy entered the war in June 1940, Trieste and Trento were part of the Third Division, Second Squadron. Together with Bolzano, they were assigned to patrol the sea waters north of Sicily. During the Battle of Cape Teulada in November 1940, she enganged British warships and came out of it unscathed. The following year, in February 1941, she would participate in the hunt for the British Royal Navy's Force H. However, no contact was made as the British were able to elude the Italian fleet.

In late March 1941, Trieste joined the Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto and engaged four British cruisers. Although she came under attack by Allied bombers, she was not hit. In August 1942, the Third Division of Trieste sailed from the port of Messina to engage the Royal Navy once again. During this naval battle, two Italian cruisers, Bolzano and Attendolo were torpedoed.

On April 10, 1943, while she was anchored in Sardinian harbor of La Maddalena, Trieste was attacked by B-24 bombers. As a result, she was hit and capsized to starboard. In 1946, she was stricken from the Italian naval register.

Specifications

Type: Heavy cruiser

Length: 197 m

Beam: 20.6 m

Draft: 6.8 m

Displacement: 13,300 tons (full-loaded)

Armor: 70-mm on belt, 100-mm on tower, and 50-mm on deck

Power Plant: four steam turbines fed by twelve Yarrow boilers

Maximum Speed: 32 knots

Range: 7,700 km

Crew: 780 sailors and officers

Armament: four 203-mm guns; eight 100-mm guns; four torpedo tubes.

Below, the Trieste moored in a Mediterranean harbor, in 1934.

Her four 203-mm guns.

Side views of the Trieste heavy cruiser in 1940.