Vittorio Veneto was the lead ship of the
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
Vittorio Veneto-class
battleshipA battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers or destroyers. There are currently no battleships in service....
s, that served in the
Regia MarinaThe Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was named after the Italian victory at
Vittorio VenetoThe Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought between 24 October and 3 November 1918, near Vittorio Veneto, during the Italian Campaign of World War I...
, during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
.
Construction
Vittorio Veneto's keel was laid in 1934 at
Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico,
TriesteTrieste is a city and seaport in north eastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south, east and north of the city...
; she was launched on 25 July 1937, and her construction was completed in 1940, after Italy had entered in war against
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
Vittorio Veneto was designed by General Umberto Pugliese, and was the first battleship to exceed the limits of the
Washington Naval TreatyThe Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, limited the naval armaments of its five signatories: the United States of America, the British Empire, the Empire of Japan, the French Third Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The treaty was agreed at the Washington Naval...
(35,000 tons of displacement). In 1942,
Vittorio Veneto was the first Italian battleship to be equipped with a
radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
device, a
"Gufo" E.C. 4.
Actions
Vittorio Veneto took part in the
battle of Cape TeuladaThe Battle of Cape Spartivento, known as the Battle of Cape Teulada in Italy, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in World War II...
(27 November 1940), where her firepower (19 shells in 7 salvos from long range) caused the seven-cruiser British squadron to withdraw.
During a mission of 26 March–29 March 1941,
Vittorio Veneto participated in the dramatic events of the
battle of Cape MatapanThe Battle of Cape Matapan was a World War II naval battle fought from March 27 to March 29, 1941. The cape is on the southwest coast of Greece's Peloponnesian peninsula...
, fought along the Peloponnesus coast, where, after scaring off a squadron of British cruisers near the island of
GavdosGavdos or Gávdhos is the southernmost Greek island, located to the south of its much bigger neighbour, Crete, of which it is administratively a part, in the prefecture of Chania. It forms a community with surrounding islets and is part of the former province of Selino. It is the southernmost point...
and inflicting minor damage on them, she was hit by a torpedo-bomber and obliged to return to Italy; the Italian fleet adopted an exceptional formation on five lines to protect the
Vittorio Veneto, but a second aircraft attack, and a subsequent night battle, caused the sinking of three heavy cruisers and two destroyers to British battleship gunfire.
Despite taking on 4,000 tons of water due to the extensive torpedo damage, the battleship was able to reach
TarantoTaranto is a coastal city in Puglia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base.It is the third-largest continental city of southern Italy: according to the 2001 census, it has a population of...
, but remained out of service for about five months.
During the war in the
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
,
Vittorio Veneto took part in 56 war missions, eleven of which had as their mission the hunting of enemy ships.
1940
- 1 September: operation Hats;
- 29 September: operation MB 5;
- 11 November: Battle of Taranto
The naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11 November 1940 – 12 November 1940 during World War II. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft naval attack in history, flying a small number of aircraft from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea and attacking the Italian...
;
- 27 November: Battle of Cape Spartivento
The Battle of Cape Spartivento, known as the Battle of Cape Teulada in Italy, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in World War II...
or Battle of Cape Teulada;
1941
- 8 February: bombardment of Genoa;
- 27 March: Battle of Gavdos island;
- 28 March: Battle of Matapan
The Battle of Cape Matapan was a World War II naval battle fought from March 27 to March 29, 1941. The cape is on the southwest coast of Greece's Peloponnesian peninsula...
. The commander of the ship was Capitano di Vascello Giuseppe Sparzani and the commander of the Italian fleet, flagship Vittorio Veneto, was Ammiraglio di Squadra Angelo IachinoAngelo Iachino was an Italian admiral during World War II.-Early life and career:Born at Sanremo, Liguria, Iachino entered the Italian naval academy at Livorno in 1904, and graduated in 1907....
;
- 27 September: convoy Albert to Malta;
- 14 December: cancelled Italian convoys in the Mediterranean Sea;
1942
- 15 June: Vittorio Veneto also participated in the Battle of Mid-June
Operation Vigorous was a World War II Allied operation to deliver a supply convoy that sailed from Haifa and Port Said on 12 June 1942 to Malta. The convoy encountered heavy Axis air and sea opposition and returned to Alexandria on 16 June....
, where she and the LittorioLittorio was an Italian Vittorio Veneto class battleship that served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She was named after the Lictor , in ancient times the bearer of the Roman fasces, which was adopted as the symbol of Italian Fascism.-Construction:Her keel was laid down in 1934 at the...
successfully fenced off a large British convoy from AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
by their mere presence at sea;
1943
- 9 September: surrender of the Italian fleet.
After the armistice of 8 September 1943,
Vittorio Veneto was sent to Egypt, and was interned in the
Great Bitter LakeThe Great Bitter Lake is a salt water lake between the north and south part of the Suez Canal. It is adjoined by the Small Bitter Lake . Together, the Bitter Lakes have a surface area of about 250 km²...
, in the
Suez CanalThe Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened on November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigating around Africa...
; a proposal to allow the battleship to fight side-by-side with the Allies in southern France and in the Pacific Ocean was dismissed because of political and operational considerations. After the war she was taken by the United Kingdom as war compensation.
Vittorio Veneto was eventually returned to Italy where she was dismantled, in 1948.
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