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Italian cruiser Luigi Cadorna

Luigi Cadorna surrendering at Malta on 9 September 1943
History
Name: Luigi Cadorna
Ordered: 29 October 1929
Laid down: 19 September 1930
Launched: 30 September 1931
Commissioned: 11 August 1933
Struck: May 1951
Fate: Scrapped, 1951
General characteristics
Class and type: Condottieri-class cruiser
Displacement:
  • 5,323 t (5,239 long tons) standard
  • 7,113 t (7,001 long tons) full load
Length: 169.3 m (555 ft 5 in)
Beam: 15.5 m (50 ft 10 in)
Draught: 5.2 m (17 ft 1 in)
Propulsion:
  • 2 Parsons geared turbines
  • 6 Yarrow boilers
  • 95,000 hp (70,841 kW)
Speed: 37 knots (43 mph; 69 km/h)
Range: 2,930 nmi (5,430 km) at 16 kn (18 mph; 30 km/h)
Complement: 507
Armament:
Armour:
  • Deck: 20 mm (0.79 in)
  • Main belt: 24 mm (0.94 in)
  • Turrets: 23 mm (0.91 in)
Aircraft carried: 2 aircraft
Aviation facilities: 1 catapult

Luigi Cadorna was an Italian Condottieri-class light cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II; named after Italian Field Marshal Luigi Cadorna who was commander in Chief of the Italian Army during World War I.

Cadorna was launched on 30 September 1931. During her early service she did operations in the Spanish Civil War. In April 1939 she participated in the occupation of Albania.

When World War II broke out she was a part of the 4th Cruiser Division and started laying mines on 9 June 1940 near the island of Lampedusa. A month later she was present in the Battle of Calabria where she avoided a submarine torpedo attack, engaged enemy aircraft and assisted her sister ship Armando Diaz, which had boiler problems.

However, due to her relatively weak design and light armor, she went into reserve from 12 February 1941. But when supplying of the Axis army in North Africa became more important, she entered the service again and provided distant cover for the convoys headed towards North Africa. Occasionally she sortied with the fleet to intercept British convoys to Malta. In the period of November/December 1941 she was also used as a transport, transporting fuel and ammunition to Libya

From January 1942 she was transferred to Pola, where she was employed in a training role. After a short refit in May/June 1943, she joined the 8th Cruiser Division on 14 June.

Between 24–30 June she transported troops to Albania, and on 3 July she was transferred to Taranto, from whence, in August, she made five minelaying sorties to lay defensive fields in the Gulf of Taranto along with the light cruiser Scipione Africano.


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