Italian battleship Conte di Cavour

Conte di Cavour at speed in her original configuration
History
Kingdom of Italy
Name:	Conte di Cavour
Namesake:	Count Camillo Benso di Cavour
Builder:	La Spezia Arsenale, La Spezia
Laid down:	10 August 1910
Launched:	10 August 1911
Completed:	1 April 1915
Refit:	October 1933–June 1937
Captured:	10 September 1943
Fate:	Scrapped, 1946
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Conte di Cavour-class dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	23,088 long tons (23,458 t) (standard) 25,086 long tons (25,489 t) (deep load)
Length:	176 m (577 ft 5 in) (o/a)
Beam:	28 m (91 ft 10 in)
Draught:	9.3 m (30 ft 6 in)
Installed power:	31,000 shp (23,000 kW) 20 × Water-tube boilers
Propulsion:	4 × Shafts 4 × Steam turbines
Speed:	21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph)
Range:	4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	31 officers and 969 enlisted men
Armament:	3 × triple, 2 × twin 305 mm (12 in) guns 18 × single 120 mm (4.7 in) guns 14 × single 76.2 mm (3 in) guns 3 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Waterline belt: 250–130 mm (9.8–5.1 in) Deck: 24–40 mm (0.9–1.6 in) Gun turrets: 280–240 mm (11.0–9.4 in) Barbettes: 230–130 mm (9.1–5.1 in) Conning towers: 280–180 mm (11.0–7.1 in)
General characteristics (after reconstruction)
Class and type:	none
Displacement:	29,100 long tons (29,600 t) (deep load)
Length:	186.4 m (611 ft 7 in)
Beam:	33.1 m (108 ft 7 in)
Installed power:	75,000 shp (56,000 kW) 8 × Yarrow boilers
Propulsion:	2 × Shafts 2 × Geared steam turbines
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range:	6,400 nmi (11,900 km; 7,400 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement:	1,260
Armament:	2 × triple, 2 × twin 320 mm (12.6 in) guns 6 × twin 120 mm guns 4 × twin 100 mm (3.9 in) AA guns
Armor:	Deck: 166–135 mm (6.5–5.3 in) Barbettes: 280–130 mm (11.0–5.1 in)

Conte di Cavour was the name ship of the three Conte di Cavour-class battleships built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) in the 1910s. She served during both World War I and World War II, although she was little used and saw no combat during the former. The ship supported operations during the Corfu Incident in 1923 and spent much of the rest of the decade in reserve. She was rebuilt between 1933 and 1937 with more powerful guns, additional armor and considerably more speed than before.

Both Conte di Cavour and her sister ship, Giulio Cesare, participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940, where the latter was lightly damaged. They were both present when British torpedo bombers attacked the fleet at Taranto in November 1940, and Conte di Cavour was torpedoed. She was deliberately grounded, with most of her hull underwater, and her repairs were not completed before the Italian surrender in September 1943. The ship was then captured by the Germans, but they made no use of her. She was damaged in an Allied air raid in early 1945 and capsized seven days later. Conte di Cavour was eventually scrapped in 1946.

Conte di Cavour was 168.9 meters (554 ft 2 in) long at the waterline, and 176 meters (577 ft 5 in) long overall. The ship had a beam of 28 meters (91 ft 10 in), and a draft of 9.3 meters (30 ft 6 in). She displaced 23,088 long tons (23,458 t) at normal load, and 25,086 long tons (25,489 t) at deep load. She had a crew of 31 officers and 969 enlisted men. The ship's machinery consisted of four Parsons steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft. Steam for the turbines was provided by 20 Blechynden water-tube boilers, eight of which burned fuel oil, and twelve which burned both oil and coal. Designed to reach a maximum speed of 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph) from 31,000 shaft horsepower (23,000 kW), Conte di Cavour failed to reach this goal on her sea trials, despite generally exceeding the rated power of her turbines. The ship only made a maximum speed of 22.2 knots (41.1 km/h; 25.5 mph) using 31,278 shp (23,324 kW). She had a cruising radius of 4,800 nautical miles (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).