Italian cruiser Zara

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).

Design
The Zara-class cruisers were developed to meet an Italian Navy requirement for a more heavily armoured class of cruisers than the previous fast, but lightly armoured Trento-class. This was particularly important as Italy's battleships were obsolete, and the new cruisers were needed to lead the Italian fleet. The first two ships of the class, Zara and Fiume were ordered under the 1928–1929 construction programme, with a third ship, Gorizia ordered as part of the 1929–30 programme, and a fourth and final ship, Pola under the 1930–31 programme.

To save weight, the Zara-class did not use the flush deck adopted by the Trento-class, instead having a raised forecastle reaching back to the main superstructure. In another attempt to save weight, a similar machinery design to that used by the Giussano-class light cruisers was adopted, with eight Thorneycroft boilers feeding geared steam turbines and driving two shafts. It was arranged in unit configuration, being split into physically separated units to give greater ability to withstand machinery damage. The machinery was designed to give 95000 shp maximum power, with a design speed of 32 kn.

The main armament of Zara was eight 203 mm (8 in) Model 1927 guns in four twin turrets, two turrets forward and two aft. These guns could fire 125 kg armor-piercing (AP) shells or 111 kg high-explosive (HE) shells to a range of 34400 yd at a rate of about three and a half rounds per gun per minute, although the guns were mounted too close together in the turrets, reducing accuracy. Secondary armament consisted of sixteen 100 mm (3.9 in) dual purpose guns in eight twin turrets, with a short range anti-aircraft armament of four 40 mm/39 Vickers-Terni guns (a licence-built version of the British 2-pounder pom-pom) and eight heavy machine guns in four twin mounts. A fixed aircraft catapult was mounted down the centreline of the ship's bow, allowing the launching of floatplanes, with a hangar for two aircraft located in the forecastle, in front of the main gun turrets. Initial aircraft equipment was a pair of Piaggio P.6 floatplanes.

Zara's armoured belt was 150 mm thick, thinning to 100 mm below the waterline, and covered the ship's machinery, the main armament barbettes and magazines, while a main armor deck of 70 mm provided protection against plunging fire. The main gun turrets and the barbettes beneath them had between 150 mm and 120 mm of armour, while the ship's conning tower was protected by between 70 and 150 mm of armour.

Construction
Zara's keel was laid down on 4 July 1928 at the Odero Terni Orlando (OTO) shipyard at Muggiano, La Spezia; she was launched on 27 April 1930, and her construction was completed on 20 October 1931. During sea trials, Zara reached a speed of 35.23 kn, but this was with the ship's machinery forced to give 120690 shp. This was not representative of in-service performance, however, and normal maximum at-sea speed was about 29 kn.

Service history
Zara participated in the Spanish Civil War.

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

1941
On 29 March, in the battle of Cape Matapan, under commander Capitano di Vascello Luigi Corsi, the Zara was escorting the battleship ITALIAN BATTLESHIP Vittorio Veneto, which had been damaged by an aerial torpedo and slowed down, to Italy. The Zara class cruiser, ITALIAN 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 unprepared Italian cruisers were taken by surprise by the radar-equipped British vessels. Three British battleships, HMS Barham, Valiant and Warspite, firing from as short distances as 2000 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, Vittorio Alfieri and Carducci, were also sunk.