Zara-class cruiser

Zara before the war
Class overview
Name:	Zara class
Operators:	Regia Marina
Preceded by:	Trento class
Succeeded by:	Bolzano
Built:	1929–1932
In commission:	1931–1944
Completed:	4
Lost:	4
General characteristics
Class and type:	Heavy cruiser
Displacement:	11,326 to 11,712 long tons (11,508 to 11,900 t) standard 13,944 to 14,330 long tons (14,168 to 14,560 t) full load
Length:	179.6 m (589 ft 3 in) lwl 182.8 m (599 ft 9 in) loa
Beam:	20.62 m (67 ft 8 in)
Draft:	7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)
Installed power:	8 three-drum Thornycroft boilers 95,000 shp (71,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 Parsons turbines
Speed:	32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h)
Complement:	841
Armament:	8 × 203 mm (8.0 in)/53 cal. guns 16 × 100 mm (4 in) / 47 caliber guns 6 × 40 mm (1.6 in) 49-cal. guns 8 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) guns
Armor:	Deck: 70 mm (2.8 in) Belt: 150 mm (5.9 in) Turret faces: 150 mm Barbettes: 150 mm Conning tower: 150 mm
Aircraft carried:	2 × seaplanes

The Zara class was group of four heavy cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the late 1920s and the early 1930s. The class comprised the vessels Zara, Fiume, Gorizia, and Pola, the last of which was completed to a slightly different design. The ships were a substantial improvement over the preceding Trento-class cruisers, incorporating significantly heavier armor protection at the cost of the very high speed of the Trentos. They carried the same main battery of eight 203 mm (8.0 in) guns and had a maximum speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph). Among the best-protected heavy cruisers built by any navy in the 1930s, the heavy armor could only be acquired by violating the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited cruiser displacement to 10,000 long tons (10,160 t).

All four ships served with the main fleet in the interwar period, where they were primarily occupied with training exercises and fleet reviews. During the Spanish Civil War, Gorizia evacuated Italian nationals and Pola took part in non-intervention patrols. All four ships supported the Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. After Italy joined the wider conflict in 1940, the four ships saw extensive action in the Mediterranean Sea against British forces. The ships took part in the battles of Calabria and Cape Matapan, and in the latter engagement, Zara, Pola, and Fiume were all sunk in a ferocious night action with three British battleships.