Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto

Vittorio Veneto shortly after completion in 1940
History
Italy
Name:	Vittorio Veneto
Namesake:	Battle of Vittorio Veneto
Operator:	Regia Marina
Ordered:	10 June 1934
Builder:	'San Marco' Trieste, Cantieri Riuniti dell' Adriatico (C.R.D.A.)
Laid down:	28 October 1934
Launched:	25 July 1937
Sponsored by:	Signora Maria Bertuzzi
Commissioned:	28 April 1940
Decommissioned:	1 February 1948
Struck:	1 February 1948
Fate:	Scrapped at La Spezia 1951–54
General characteristics
Class and type:	Littorio-class battleship
Displacement:	Standard: 40,723 long tons (41,376 t) Full load:45,237 long tons (45,963 t)
Length:	237.76 m (780.1 ft)
Beam:	32.82 m (107.7 ft)
Draft:	9.6 m (31 ft)
Installed power:	8 × Yarrow boilers 128,000 shp (95,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × steam turbines, 4 × shafts
Speed:	30 kn (35 mph; 56 km/h)
Range:	3,920 mi (6,310 km; 3,410 nmi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement:	1,830 to 1,950
Sensors and processing systems:	EC 3 ter 'Gufo' Radar
Armament:	3 × 3 381 mm (15.0 in)/50 cal guns 4 × 3 152 mm (6.0 in)/55 cal guns 4 × 1 120 mm (4.7 in)/40 guns for illumination 12 × 1 90 mm (3.5 in)/50 anti-aircraft guns 20 × 37 mm (1.5 in)/54 guns (8 × 2; 4 × 1) 10 × 2 20 mm (0.79 in)/65 guns
Armor:	Main belt: 350 mm (14 in) Deck: 162 mm (6.4 in) Turrets: 350 mm Conning tower: 260 mm (10 in)
Aircraft carried:	3 aircraft (IMAM Ro.43 or Reggiane Re.2000)
Aviation facilities:	1 stern catapult

Vittorio Veneto was the second member of the Littorio-class battleship that served in the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) during World War II. The ship's keel was laid down in October 1934, launched in July 1937, and readied for service with the Italian fleet by August 1940. She was named after the Italian victory at Vittorio Veneto during World War I, and she had three sister ships: Littorio, Roma, and Impero, though only Littorio and Roma were completed during the war. She was armed with a main battery of nine 381-millimeter (15.0 in) guns in three triple turrets, and could steam at a speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).

Vittorio Veneto saw extensive service during the war. Early in the war, she participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento in November 1940 and the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. While damaged by torpedoes several times, including in the engagement off Cape Matapan and by the British submarine HMS Urge in December 1941, the ship escaped undamaged during the British raid on Taranto in November 1940. She spent 1941 and early 1942 attempting to attack British convoys to Malta, but crippling fuel shortages in the Italian fleet curtailed activity thereafter. Vittorio Veneto was among the Italian ships that were surrendered to the Allies in September 1943 after Italy withdrew from the war, and she spent the following three years under British control in Egypt. After the war, she was allocated as a war prize to Britain and subsequently broken up for scrap.