Italian cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi (1936) | |
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![]() RN Garibaldi (1944) | |
Career (Italy) | ![]() ![]() |
Name: | RN Garibaldi |
Namesake: | Giuseppe Garibaldi |
Operator: |
![]() ![]() |
Builder: | CRDA |
Laid down: | 28 December 1933 |
Launched: | 21 April 1936 |
Commissioned: | 1 December 1937 |
Decommissioned: | 1953 |
Refit: | 1957-1961 |
Homeport: | Taranto |
Motto: | "Obbedisco" |
Fate: | Reconstructed from 1957 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement: |
Standard: 11,350 t (11,170 long tons; 12,510 short tons) Full: 11,735 t (11,550 long tons; 12,936 short tons) |
Length: |
Waterline: 171.1 m (561 ft 4 in) Overall: 187 m (613 ft 6 in) |
Beam: | 18.9 m (62 ft 0 in) |
Draught: | 6.9 m (22 ft 8 in) |
Propulsion: |
8 Yarrow boilers 2 turbine gears 2 shafts Total output: 100,000 hp (75,000 kW) |
Speed: | 34 kn (63 km/h; 39 mph) |
Range: | 4,125 mi (6,639 km) at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Complement: | 640 crew |
Armament: |
10× 152/55 mm 8x 100/47 mm 8× 37/54 mm 12× 13.2 mm replaced with 12× 20/65 mm Wartime additional: - 6× 533 mm torpedo launchers (removed in 1945) 2 x anti-submarines mortars |
Armor: |
max 140 mm (5.5 in) (vertical) 40 mm (1.6 in) (horizontal) |
Aircraft carried: |
4 Ro.43 |
Career (Italy) | ![]() |
Name: | MM Giuseppe Garibaldi |
Builder: | La Spezia Arsenal |
Laid down: | Reconstruction started in 1957 |
Launched: | 1961 |
Commissioned: | 1961 |
Decommissioned: | 1972 |
In service: | 1961-1971 |
Out of service: | 1971 |
Struck: | 1976 |
Homeport: | Taranto |
Motto: | "Obbedisco" |
Fate: | Scrapped |
Notes: | Pennant 551 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement: |
Standard: 9,195 t (9,050 long tons; 10,136 short tons) Full: 11,350 t (11,170 long tons; 12,510 short tons) |
Length: |
Waterline: 171.1 m (561 ft 4 in) Overall: 187 m (613 ft 6 in) |
Beam: | 18.9 m (62 ft 0 in) |
Draught: | 6.7 m (22 ft 0 in) |
Propulsion: |
6 Yarrow boilers 2 turbine gears 2 shafts Total output: 85,000 hp (63,000 kW) |
Speed: | 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
Range: | 4,125 mi (6,639 km) at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Complement: | 640 crew |
Sensors and processing systems: |
1× AN/SPS-6 surface surveillance radar 1× MM/SPQ-2 navigation/surface surveillance radar 1× AN/SPS-39 Freescan 3D anti-air surveillance radar 1× Argos 5000 air surveillance radar 2× AN/SPG-55 tracking radars |
Armament: |
2× Twin 135/45 mm gun 8× Oto Melara 76/62mm MMI gun 4× UGM-27 Polaris missile launchers 1× Mk 4 twin-arm launcher for RIM-2 Terrier SAM |
Armor: |
max 140 mm (5.5 in) (vertical) 40 mm (1.6 in) (horizontal) |
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian Duca degli Abruzzi class light cruiser, that served in the Regia Marina during World War II. After the war she was retained by the Marina Militare and upgraded. She was built by CRDA, in Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard Trieste and named after the Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi.
Decommissioned in 1953, Giuseppe Garibaldi was converted between 1957 and 1961, at the La Spezia shipyards, into a guided missile cruiser.
Design[]
The Duca degli Abruzzi class cruisers were the final version of the Condottieri class and were larger and better protected than their predecessors. The armament was also increased by two extra 152 mm guns, triple turrets replaced twins in the A and Y positions. The machinery was also revised which led to these ships having a slightly slower maximum speed than their predecessors.
World War II service[]
1940[]
- 9 July: Battle of Calabria. Along with her sister Duca degli Abruzzi she fired the first rounds of the battle. During the engagement, a 6" round from Giuseppe Garibaldi[1][2] hit HMS Neptune, damaging her catapult and the reconnaissance aircraft beyond repair.[3][4]
- 1 September: Hats convoy
- 29 September: Operation MB 5
- 11 November: present during the Battle of Taranto when Italian fleet was attacked at anchor by Royal Navy aircraft
1941[]
- 27 March: Battle of Cape Matapan. The commander of the ship was Captain Stanislao Caraciotti
- 8 May: Tiger convoy
- 28 July: damaged by British submarine HMS Upholder
1942[]
- 3 January: Italian convoy M 43
- 7 March: Operation V 5
- 14 June: Action against convoy Vigorous for Malta
After the armistice (8 September 1943), she operated in the South Atlantic together with Allied ships against potential German raiders.
Recommissioning as a guided missile cruiser[]
Launch of a Terrier missile.
After the war she was retained by the Marina Militare and modernized with minor changes of the armament and a radar. She was decommissioned in 1953 and reconstructed as a guided missile cruiser.
The new ship was rebuilt in the La Spezia Arsenal starting from 1957, and, at her completion in 1961, she was named flagship of the Italian Navy.
The reconstruction included a complete overhauling of the superstructure, while the hull kept its original dimensions.
Apart from some minor changes, much of the latter's rebuilding included four launchers for US UGM-27 Polaris nuclear ballistic missiles. Despite the successful launching tests, the US never provided the missiles, due to political convenience. Instead the Italian Government set to develop an indigenous missile, called Alfa, with a successful program, officially halted by Italian Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ratification and failure of the NATO Multilateral Force.
The propulsion system remained the same. The rest of the armament was radically altered: a RIM-2 Terrier missile launcher made Giuseppe Garibaldi the first missile cruiser in Europe. The previous artillery was replaced by four 135/45 mm guns in two twin turrets and eight Oto Melara 76/62mm Type MMI AA guns.
Electronics included several radars and fire control systems.
She was decommissioned in 1971 and scrapped the following year.
References[]
- ↑ Action off Calabria, by Christian D'Adamo
- ↑ Jordan, John (2008). Warship 2008. Conway maritime press, p. 32. ISBN 1-84486-062-0
- ↑ Smith, Peter Charles (1980). Action imminent: three studies of the naval war in the Mediterranean theatre during 1940. Kimber, p. 66. ISBN 0-7183-0197-8
- ↑ Cunningham, Admiral Sir Andrew B. (28 April 1948). "REPORT OF AN ACTION WITH THE ITALIAN FLEET OFF CALABRIA, 9th JULY, 1940." (pdf). London Gazette. HMSO. http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/LondonGazette/38273.pdf. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
Sources[]
- Conway's All the World Fighting's Ships 1947-1995. ISBN 1557501327.
External links[]
- Italian light cruiser Garibaldi on Marina Militare official web site
- Italian guided missile cruiser Garibaldi on Marina Militare official website
The original article can be found at Italian cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi (1936) and the edit history here.