Italian cruiser Zara
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| Career (Italy) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Zara |
| Laid down: | 4 July 1929 |
| Launched: | 27 April 1930 |
| Commissioned: | 20 October 1931 |
| Fate: | Sunk, 29 March 1941 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Zara-class cruiser |
| Displacement: | 11,870 t (11,683 long tons) standard 14,530 t (14,301 long tons) full load |
| Length: | 182.8 m (599 ft 9 in) |
| Beam: | 20.6 m (67 ft 7 in) |
| Draught: | 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power: | 95,000 shp (71,000 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 8 × 3-drum Thornycroft boilers 2 × Parsons steam turbines |
| Speed: | 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Range: | 5,361 nmi (9,929 km; 6,169 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Complement: | 841 |
| Armament: | 4 × 2 - 203 mm (8 in)/53 cal. guns 8 × 2 - 100 mm (3.9 in)/47 cal. guns 6 × 1 - 40 mm/49 cal. guns 8 × 13.2 mm machine guns |
| Armour: | Maximum 70 mm (2.8 in) vertical, 150 mm (5.9 in) horizontal |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 |
Zara was an Italian Zara class heavy cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. The cruiser was named after the Adriatic city of Zara (today Zadar).
Her keel was laid down 1928 at O.T.O., La Spezia; she was launched on 27 April 1930, and her construction was completed in 1931. It sank on 29 March 1941.
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[edit] Service history
Zara participated in the Spanish Civil War.
[edit] 1940
- 7 July: Battle of Calabria
- 19 July: Battle of Cape Spada
- 1 September: Operation Hats
- 29 September: Operation MB 5
- 11 November: Night of Taranto
[edit] 1941
On 29 March, in the battle of Cape Matapan, under commander Capitano di Vascello Luigi Corsi, the Zara was escorting the battleship Vittorio Veneto, which had been damaged by an aerial torpedo and slowed down, to Italy. The Zara class cruiser, Pola was damaged by a torpedo from a British aircraft, and was also obliged to slow down and later stop. The remainder of the Italian force headed towards home ports, leaving the ship, but at the coming of night, the Zara together with her sister-ship Fiume and four destroyers (Oriani, Alfieri, Carducci and Gioberti) of the IX Squadriglia were dispatched to the Pola. In a night action the Italian cruisers were taken by surprise by the radar-equipped British vessels. Three British battleships, Barham, Valiant and Warspite, firing from as close a distance as 2,000 m comprehensively outgunned the cruisers. Zara and Fiume were struck several times within five minutes. Unable to recover the ship, the commander ordered the crew to scuttle and abandon Zara. The Fiume and the ship they had come back for, the Pola, and two destroyers, Alfieri and Carducci, were also sunk.
