Conte di Cavour class battleship

The Conte di Cavour before reconstruction
Class overview
Operators:	Regia Marina
Preceded by:	Dante Alighieri
Succeeded by:	Andrea Doria-class
Built:	1910–1914
In commission:	1915–1955
Completed:	3
Lost:	1
General characteristics
Type:	Battleship
Displacement:	23,100 long tons (23,500 t)
Length:	176 m (577 ft 5 in)
Beam:	28 m (91 ft 10 in)
Draught:	9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Propulsion:	4 shafts 20 boilers 31,000 hp (23,100 kW)
Speed:	21.5 knots (24.7 mph; 39.8 km/h)
Range:	4,800 nmi (8,900 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Complement:	1,000
Armament:	As built: • 13 × 305 mm (12.0 in)/46 caliber guns • 18 × 120 mm (4.7 in)/50 caliber guns • 16 × 76 mm (3.0 in)/50 caliber guns • 6 × 76 mm (3.0 in)/40 caliber guns • 3 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 254 mm (10.0 in) Deck: 111 mm (4.4 in) Turrets 254 mm (10.0 in) Secondary battery 127 mm (5.0 in) Conning Tower: 279 mm (11.0 in)

The Conte di Cavour class was a battleship class of the Regia Marina in World War I and World War II.

Design

Original main armament layout of 13 305-mm guns

This class was the second group of dreadnoughts in the Regia Marina. The ships were designed by Admiral Edoardo Masdea.

The main armament consisted of 13 305mm guns in five turrets. Three triple turrets were installed in A,Q and Y positions and two twin turrets were installed in B and X positions. The guns were an Armstrong Whitworth design. The machinery was a four shaft direct drive turbine arrangement with either 12 Babcock or 24 Bleychnyden type (Cesare) coal and oil mixed fired boilers

Construction

The class was composed of three ships, all laid down in 1910 and completed in 1914-15:

• Conte di Cavour (reconstructed before World War II)
• Giulio Cesare (reconstructed before World War II)
• Leonardo da Vinci (sunk during World War I)

Giulio Cesare before reconstruction

Giulio Cesare leads the Italian battlefleet, including other Conte di Cavour-class battleships, in the Adriatic Sea in 1918.

See also

Media related to Conte di Cavour class battleship at Wikimedia Commons

References

• Faccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-010-5. 

External links

• Cavour class - Plancia di Comando
• Italian Battleships - www.regiamarina.net