Italian cruiser Pola

Line-drawing of Pola
History
Italy
Name:	Pola
Namesake:	Pola
Builder:	OTO Livorno
Laid down:	17 March 1931
Launched:	5 December 1931
Commissioned:	21 December 1932
Fate:	Sunk, 29 March 1941
General characteristics
Class and type:	Zara-class cruiser
Displacement:	13,944 long tons (14,168 t) full load
Length:	182.8 m (599 ft 9 in)
Beam:	20.6 m (67 ft 7 in)
Draft:	7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
Installed power:	8 × 3-drum Yarrow boilers 95,000 shp (71,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × Parsons steam turbines
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range:	5,361 nmi (9,929 km; 6,169 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement:	841
Armament:	8 × 203 mm (8 in)/53 cal. guns 16 × 100 mm (4 in) / 47 caliber guns 4 × 40 mm/39 cal. guns 8 × 12.7 mm machine guns
Armor:	Deck: 70 mm (2.8 in) Belt: 150 mm (5.9 in) Turret faces: 150 mm Barbettes: 150 mm
Aircraft carried:	2

Pola was a Zara-class heavy cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy). She was built in the Odero-Terni-Orlando shipyard in Livorno in the early 1930s and entered service in 1932. She was the third of four ships in the class, which also included Zara, Fiume, and Gorizia. Pola was built as a flagship with a larger conning tower to accommodate an admiral's staff. Like her sisters, she was armed with a battery of eight 203-millimeter (8.0 in) guns and was capable of a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

Pola initially served as the flagship of the 2nd Squadron, and in 1940 she led the squadron during the battles of Calabria and Cape Spartivento, in July and November, respectively. During the latter engagement she briefly battled the British cruiser HMS Berwick. Pola was thereafter reassigned to the 3rd Division, along with her three sister ships. The ship took part in the Battle of Cape Matapan in late March 1941. During the battle, she was disabled by a British airstrike. Later, in a fierce night engagement in the early hours of 29 March, Pola, Zara, Fiume, and two destroyers were sunk by the British Mediterranean Fleet with heavy loss of life.

Pola was 182.8 meters (600 ft) long overall, with a beam of 20.62 m (67.7 ft) and a draft of 7.2 m (24 ft). She displaced 13,944 long tons (14,168 t) at full load, though her displacement was nominally within the 10,000-long-ton (10,000 t) restriction set in place by the Washington Naval Treaty. Her power plant consisted of two Parsons steam turbines powered by eight oil-fired Yarrow boilers, which were trunked into two funnels amidships. Her engines were rated at 95,000 shaft horsepower (71,000 kW) and produced a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph). She had a crew of 841 officers and enlisted men.Pola was designed to function as a squadron flagship, and so her forward superstructure was larger than that of her sisters, and was faired into the forward funnel.