Giussano-class cruiser

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Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice
Class overview
Name	Giussano class
Operators	Regia Marina
Built	1928–1930
In commission	1931–1942
Completed	4
Lost	4
General characteristics
Type	Cruiser
Displacement	6,570 tonnes (6,470 long tons) standard 6,954 tonnes (6,844 long tons) full load
Length	169.3 m (555 ft)
Beam	15.5 m (51 ft)
Draft	5.3 m (17 ft)
Propulsion	95,000 hp (71,000 kW)
Speed	37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph) (42 knots (78 km/h; 48 mph) in trials)
Range	3,800 nmi (7,000 km) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	507
Armament	8 × 152 mm (6 in) /53 guns in 4 twin mountings 6 × 100 mm (4 in) / 47 caliber guns in 3 twin mountings 8 × 37 mm (1.5 in) 54-cal. guns 8 × 13.2 mm machine-guns 4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Decks: 20 mm (0.79 in) Belt: 24 mm (0.94 in) Turrets: 23 mm (0.91 in) Tower: 40 mm (1.6 in)
Aircraft carried	2 × CANT 25AR (later Ro.43) seaplanes
Aviation facilities	1 × catapult launcher

The Alberto di Giussano class of light cruisers were a sub-class of the Condottieri class built before World War II for the Italian Regia Marina, to gain predominance in the Mediterranean Sea. They were designed by general Giuseppe Vian and were named after Condottieri (military commanders) of the Italian Mediaeval and Renaissance periods.

Between the World Wars, the world powers started a rush to gain the supremacy on the seas. In 1926, France started to produce the Le Fantasque class of destroyers, which were superior in displacement and firepower to other destroyers of that period. To counter the French menace, the Regia Marina decided to produce a new class of cruiser that would be of intermediate size between the new French destroyer class and cruisers. The Italian ships equated to the British Leander-class cruisers.

There were 4 ships, all laid down in 1928: Alberto di Giussano, Alberico da Barbiano, Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni delle Bande Nere.

Meant to hunt down and overwhelm the big French destroyers, the emphasis on firepower and speed resulted in these ships being virtually unprotected against gunfire and underwater threats; this was a major factor in all four ships being sunk by torpedoes.