Italian cruiser Eugenio di Savoia

Eugenio di Savoia was a Condottieri class light cruiser, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She survived the war but was given as a war reparation to the Hellenic Navy in 1947. She was renamed Elli and served until 1964.

Design
Eugenio di Savoia was part of the fourth group of Condottieri light cruisers, also known as Duca d'Aosta class. The design of the Duca d'Aosta class was based on the Montecuccoli class, with a slight increase in size and a significant increase in armour. The machinery was also re-arranged.

Eugenio di Savoia was built by Ansaldo, Genoa, and named after Prince Eugene of Savoy. It is ironic that both Eugenio di Savoia and her Kriegsmarine namesake Prinz Eugen honour a General who was such a staunch ally of the British in an earlier era.

Career
As results of the pact between Franco and Mussolini, on February 13, 1937, the ship went into action off the coast of Barcelona (Spain), bombarding the city and causing 18 deaths.

The ship joined the 7th cruiser division and went on a circumnavigation of the globe with her sister ship in 1938-39, returning to La Spezia in March 1939. During the war she fought in the following actions:
 * Battle of Punta Stilo
 * Operation Harpoon (1942) - the battle in which she crippled HMS Bedouin (F67).
 * Operation Pedestal

She was hit during an air strike carried out by Liberator bombers while berthed in Napoli on 4 December 1942. Two other cruisers, Montecuccoli and Attendolo were badly hit and the latter sunk. After the armistice in 1943, she was used as a training ship in Suez.

After the end of the war, she was transferred to Greece in 1950 as war reparation. The Greek flag was raised in 1951 and the ship was renamed Elli (Έλλη). The ship became the headquarters for the Commander in Chief of the Hellenic Fleet.

The ship was moved to Souda Bay (Crete) in 1959 where she was used as headquarters to the Admiral C-in-C of Cretan and Ionian seas. It was subsequently decommissioned in 1965 and auctioned for scrap in 1973.

Further reading and external links

 * Video: Italian newsreel footage of an IMAM Ro.43 reconnaissance floatplane launching from a catapult aboard Eugenio di Savoia can be viewed at I.M.A.M Ro 43 Hidroavion Catapultable Regia Marina.
 * Video: Italian newsreel footage of an IMAM Ro.43 reconnaissance floatplane launching from a catapult aboard Eugenio di Savoia can be viewed at I.M.A.M Ro 43 Hidroavion Catapultable Regia Marina.