The Italian battleship Conte di Cavour was a dreadnought type battleship used by the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) during WW1 and WW2. Built at La Spezia Navy Yard, Italy, she had been launched on August 10, 1911, being commissioned in 1915. This war vessel was the flagship of the Cavour class, which also included the Giulio Cesare and Leonardo da Vinci.
The Italian battleship Conte di Cavour had originally been designed in 1908 as an improved variant of the Dante Alighieri. Her main armament consisted of thirteen 305-mm guns and a battery of eighteen 120-mm quick firing guns housed in nine amidships casemates, which were located on each side of ship at main deck level. She would survive the First World War. However, she would be sunk by British aircraft off the coast of Italy, near Taranto, on November 12, 1940. Giulio Cesare survived and was handed over to the USSR as war reparations, since the Italian Army had fought on the Eastern Front alongside Germany.
In the 1930s, Conte di Cavour had thoroughly been modernized, with a new and modern powerplant, which included geared Parsons turbines. Her bow and stern were lengthened and recontoured, which resulted in an increase in speed. Her main guns had also been upgraded to a new caliber, 320-mm (12.6 inches), with the barrel bores being enlarged and relined. The turrets and mountings were also improved, increasing maximum elevation to 27 degrees, which enabled the guns to raise their maximum range to 28.6 km.
Specifications (modernized version)
Type: dreadnought battleship
Length: 186.4 m
Beam: 28 m
Draft: 9.3 m
Displacement: 22,992 tons (standard); 26,140 tons (full loaded).
Armor: 254-mm-thick on the sides; 138-mm on the deck.
Propulsion: 4 shafts, 4 geared Parsons turbines, and 20 boilers, with a total generated power of 75,000 HP.
Maximum Speed: 28 knots.
Range: 4,800 nautical miles.
Compliment: 1,236 sailors and officers
Below, the already upgraded Italian battleship Conte di Cavour, leading her sister ship Giulio Cesare in line. Photo taken in 1938.
Photo of Conte di Cavour taken around 1917.
