Italian cruiser Muzio Attendolo

Italian light cruiser Muzio Attendolo
History
Italy
Name:	Muzio Attendolo
Namesake:	Muzio Attendolo
Builder:	CRDA Trieste
Laid down:	10 April 1931
Launched:	9 September 1934
Commissioned:	7 August 1935
Fate:	Sunk 4 December 1942
General characteristics
Class and type:	Condottieri-class light cruiser
Displacement:	7,523 tonnes standard 8,994 tonnes full load
Length:	182.2 m (597 ft 9.2 in)
Beam:	16.6 m (54 ft 5.5 in)
Draught:	5.6 m (18 ft 4.5 in)
Propulsion:	2 shaft Belluzzo geared turbines 6 Yarrow boilers 106,000 hp (79,000 kW)
Speed:	37 knots (69 km/h)
Range:	4,122 nautical miles (7,634 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement:	578 men
Armament:	8 × 152 mm (6 in) /53 guns (4 × 2) 6 × 100 mm (4 in) / 47 caliber guns (3 × 2) 8 × 37 mm guns (4 x 2) 8 × 13.2 mm guns (4 × 2) 4 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2x2)
Armour:	Deck: 30 mm (1.2 in) Main belt: 60 mm (2.4 in) Turrets: 70 mm (2.8 in) Conning tower: 100 mm (3.9 in)
Aircraft carried:	2 aircraft
Aviation facilities:	1 catapult

Muzio Attendolo was a Condottieri-class light cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina, which fought in World War II. She was sunk in Naples by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 4 December 1942. Although salvaged after the war she was damaged beyond repair and was scrapped.

Muzio Attendolo was part of the Raimondo Montecuccoli sub-class, which were the third group of Condottieri-class light cruisers. They were larger and better protected than their predecessors.

She was built by CRDA Trieste and named after Muzio Attendolo, a 14th-century ruler of Milan and founder of the Sforza dynasty.

Completed in 1935, this ship served in the Mediterranean. During World War II she served in the following actions:

At the inconclusive First Battle of Sirte, which came about as a British attempt to intercept the resupply of Benghazi, Attendolo was part of the "Close covering force" for Convoy M42.

Sent as part of the planned Italian attack on the British Operation Pedestal in August 1942, the Italian cruiser division which was denied air cover by the Germans was instead withdrawn. Passing through the patrol area of two British submarines, Muzio Attendolo was torpedoed by HMS Unbroken in the early morning of 13 August. She lost all the hull forward the first turret, but the transversal bulkhead resisted enough to save her from flooding, and the loss of the damaged part lightened the ship herself. She was towed to Messina and Naples and mostly repaired within 3 months. The cruiser Bolzano, also torpedoed by Unbroken at the same time, had been struck amidships and was not repaired due to a lack of resources.