Italian cruiser Trieste

Trieste in 1930
History
Kingdom of Italy
Name:	Trieste
Namesake:	City of Triest
Builder:	Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino
Laid down:	22 June 1925
Launched:	24 October 1926
Commissioned:	21 December 1928
Struck:	18 October 1946
Fate:	Sunk, 10 April 1943
General characteristics
Type:	Heavy cruiser
Displacement:	Full load: 13,326 long tons (13,540 t)
Length:	196.96 m (646 ft 2 in)
Beam:	20.6 m (67 ft 7 in)
Draft:	6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
Installed power:	12 Yarrow boilers 150,000 shp (110,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 Parsons turbines
Speed:	Trials: 35.65 kn (66.02 km/h; 41.03 mph) Service: 31 kn (57 km/h; 36 mph)
Range:	4,160 nmi (7,700 km; 4,790 mi) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement:	Peacetime: 723 Wartime: 781
Armament:	8 × 203 mm (8 in) / 50  caliber guns 16 × 100 mm (4 in) / 47 caliber guns 8 × 40 mm (1.6 in) / 39 caliber anti-aircraft guns 8 × 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine guns 8 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 70 mm (2.8 in) Deck: 20 to 50 mm (0.79 to 1.97 in) deck Turrets: 100 mm (3.9 in) Conning tower: 100 mm (3.9 in)
Aircraft carried:	2 × IMAM Ro.43 seaplanes

Trieste was the second of two Trento-class heavy cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The ship was laid down in June 1925, was launched in October 1926, and was commissioned in December 1928. Trieste was very lightly armored, with only a 70 mm (2.8 in) thick armored belt, though she possessed a high speed and heavy armament of eight 203 mm (8.0 in) guns. Though nominally built under the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, the two cruisers significantly exceeded the displacement limits imposed by the treaty. The ship spent the 1930s conducting training cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, participating in naval reviews held for foreign dignitaries, and serving as the flagship of the Cruiser Division. She also helped transport Italian volunteer troops that had been sent to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War return to Italy in 1938.

The ship saw extensive action during World War II, including the battles of Cape Spartivento and Cape Matapan in November 1940 and March 1941, respectively. Trieste was also employed to escort convoys to supply Italian forces in North Africa; during one of these operations in November 1941, she was torpedoed by a British submarine. On 10 April 1943, while the ship was moored in La Maddalena, Sardinia, she was bombed and sunk by American heavy bombers. Her superstructure was cut away and she was refloated in 1950; the Spanish Navy purchased the hull in 1952, with plans to convert the vessel into a light aircraft carrier, though the plan came to nothing due to the growing costs of the project. She was ultimately broken up by 1959.

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