RN Duca degli Abruzzi - Italian Cruiser Design at Its Best

[@Italian_Military_Archives]

Thank you for this nice and balanced analysis. In my channel I cover just the Regia Marina (both in english and italian) and I try to explain (through the various videos) why the Regia Marina behaved the way it did

[@powellmountainmike8853]

Very interesting video. One often hears about the Italian battleships, but their cruisers are largely overlooked. I am quite familiar with U.S., British, and even, to a lesser extent French ship classes below the battleships, but I had never heard about these cruisers. Thanks for enlightening me on this.

[@alephalon7849]

The Italians sure know how to build lovely-looking ships like Abruzzi.

[@enthaa]

Great video. Enjoying all your content. You certainly put good research into each video. i really like all the ship photos you have been able to find.

[@mattblom3990]

I appreciate this video as this ship is one of my favorites in World of Warships and was in one of my favorite memories, going 1 v1 against LittleWhiteMouse in her aircraft carrier at 2AM. She won, but my Abruzzi cost her 13 planes and this was back in the day when shootdowns mattered.

[@cliffthelightning]

I love the RM ships looks wise, id love to see one on Trento sometime!

[@christopherbentley7289]

Well, that demonstrates that my ship identification skills are well up to scratch as, when I spied the thumbnail, I thought to myself, "Is that a Condottieri Class cruiser, by any chance?" and it was, so thanks a lot for this uploading, S.H. That was quite a Post-WWII history of the Duca degli Abruzzi's sister ship, the Giuseppe Garibaldi, but the Duca degli Abruzzi's own story was clearly not completely without interest. I know about the Condottieri Class via the round-about route of running the Fan Blog for the singer/actress, Valérie Čižmárová, 'Bananas For Breakfast'. She was ethnically Hungarian, despite being born and growing up in Czechoslovakia and when I went investigating into Hungarian history in the course of putting together a Blog post for 5th April 2022 I uncovered the histories behind both the Eugenio di Savoia and the Raimondo Montecuccoli of the Condottieri Class, both of which and whom had Hungarian connections of some description or another. Strangely, that post concluded with a mention of another pair of cruisers in the same class - the HMSs Cornwall and Dorsetshire of the County Class.

[@lolloblue9646]

More of a series than a single class. The differences between Giussano and Garibaldi were too significant to call them a single class

[@christopherbentley7289]

@@lolloblue9646 Yes, that's a very good point, as when I took another look at that post which I mentioned there were quite a few differences, most notably the spacing of the two funnels. It is all a matter of how one defines the word 'class'.

[@legiran9564]

She could have easily carried 8 or 9 x 8 inch guns on that hull. She was that overbuilt.

[@Leptospirosi]

It depends: the 152mm caliber was much more useful and the weight and sollecitation of an 8" turret can create problems as the Mogami shown switching its guns

[@thinaphonpetsiri9907]

I still don’t really understand why Regia Marina didn’t make her a Heavy Cruiser given her other specifications. I mean, her armor (especially the belt), her displacement, her engine, all of these could’ve made her a capable heavy cruiser (if not better than some). Speaking of Zara, well, I think it really comes down to luck and her commander. No cruiser of any kind could have survived a gunfight with battleships at melee range.

[@mattblom3990]

The late Prince Phillip commanded the searchlights in the massacre of the Zara class, true story.

[@thinaphonpetsiri9907]

@@mattblom3990 Yeah, he was a Midshipman on HMS Valiant.

[@mattblom3990]

@@thinaphonpetsiri9907 Yes sir!

[@lolloblue9646]

There was the Zara class for that. The Abruzzi Class was mean to give the Regia Marina some light cruisers with comparable protection. Matapan was a surprise attack and the consequence of admiral Iachino sending the entire cruiser division to rescue Pola rather than just the escorting destroyers (the Oriani class)

[@Vaul_Fusbin]

all i can say is, that is one nice looking ship

[@rob5944]

The Italians always seemed to have well balanced, handsome looking ships in my opinion. Was Polaris even used back then though?

[@josephjackson7269]

This ship survived the war

[@m.streicher8286]

The Mediterranean would've been an entirely different game if the Italians could manufacture shells, and if the Germans sent them a few radar sets. The Regia Marina is the most interesting "plausible what-if" of WW2, in my opinion.

[@lolloblue9646]

Some ships were actually equipped German radars. Destroyer Lanciere, torpedo boat Aliseo...

[@MililaniJag]

Beautiful ship! Just missing 5 6-inchers! Cheers!

[@josephjackson7269]

I find some these great looking ships not come out to fight when opportunity came . Over protecting the ships is same as losing the ships. It’s almost like we have beautiful cars but we don’t want them scratched.

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

If you don't mind me asking, where do you get your information for Regia Marina ships? I tend to use Mussolini's Navy for general information but I struggle to find other sources that aren't ridiculously expensive.

[@skyneahistory2306]

The best sources are going to remain the single topic ones. Bagnasco and de Toro’s books on the battleships or Brescia and de Toro’s new heavy cruiser one. The Littorio book does admittedly fluctuate in price, but on American Amazon at least, it’s at $57 right now. Fairly average for the kind of book it is. But yeah. Just like getting the Friedman’s for USN stuff. Around $50 for each book, at the moment. Plus or minus a bit. (There’s also Struggle for the Middle Sea which is on the cheaper end. Not so great for technical specs, excellent for service history…so long as it’s talking about *battle* history.)

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

@@skyneahistory2306 I appreciate the response and the videos you produce! I actually just started the Struggle for the Middle Sea and it has been a good read.

[@TrickiVicBB71]

Italian battleships and cruisers are the most beautiful in my opinion. Just never lived up to their potential

[@DavidMartin-ym2te]

If Alfa Romeo built warships....

[@brucewelty7684]

Why the different names in the photos? @9:05 et al.

[@skyneahistory2306]

If you’re talking about the name on the ship, as said at the start of the video, the full name is technically ‘Luigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi’. And that’s what was written on the ship. But that’s both long to constantly say, and a lot more Italian pronunciation to butcher, which is why I only said it once.

[@issacfoster1113]

10 guns pretty low barrel count for a full Light Cruiser