Italian cruiser Zara
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| Career | _crowned.svg/40px-Flag_of_Italy_(1861-1946)_crowned.svg.png){kind=small} |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 4 July 1929 |
| Launched: | 27 April 1930 |
| Commissioned: | 20 October 1931 |
| Fate: | Sunk |
| Struck: | 29 March 1941 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 13,580 tons standard,
14,530 tons full load |
| Length: | 180 m - 182.8 m |
| Beam: | 20.6 m |
| Draught: | 7.2 m |
| Propulsion: | 8 boilers, 2 shafts, 95,000 hp |
| Speed: | 33 knots (60 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,361 miles at 16 knots |
| Complement: | 841 |
| Armament: | 8 203 mm / 53 caliber,
16 100 mm / 47 caliber, 6 40 mm / 49 caliber, 8 13.2 mm |
| Aircraft: | 2 |
| Protection: | max 150 mm (horizontal)
70 mm (vertical) |
Zara was an Italian Zara class heavy cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II.
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.
The cruiser was named after the Adriatic city of Zara (today Zadar).
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[edit] Actions
Zara participated to the Spanish Civil War, having an important role in the end of the independent Basque country.[citation needed]
[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
- 29 March: In the battle of Cape Matapan, commander Capitano di Vascello Luigi Corsi, sunk. The Zara was escorting the battleship Vittorio Veneto, which had been damaged by aerial torpedo and slowed down, to Italy. The Zara class cruiser , the Pola was damaged by a torpedo from a British aircraft, and was 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 the Fiume and four destroyers returned to the Pola. In night action the Italian cruisers were taken by surprise by the radar-equipped British vessels. Three British battleships 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 were also sunk.
