World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseConte di Cavour was the lead ship of her class of WW1-era battleships. On 24 May 1915, she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Luigi Amedeo di Savoia, but she had no active missions during the war. After WW2, she became part of the Italian foreign image, cruising in North America, carrying King Vittorio Emannuelle III on a visit to the Adriatic, and carrying Benito Mussolini on a visit to Tripoli. On 12 May 1928, she was decommissioned from service. Between 1933 and 1937, she was reconstructed at Trieste. She returned to service in 1937. In WW2, she participated in the Battle of Calabria and was sunk by British torpedo bombers during the famed raid at Taranto. An attempt was made at the end of 1941 to raise and repair her, but it never completed before Italy surrendered in 1943. She was briefly under German control after the surrender, but again was not returned to active service. She was scrapped on 27 Feb 1947.

Conte di Cavour Operational Timeline

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