World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

This article refers to the entire Trento-class; it is not about an individual vessel.

ww2dbaseThe Trento-class heavy cruisers were designed with speed in mind. Sacrificing armor protection, these heavily-gunned ships could steam as fast as destroyers. Aside from the perceived advantage by having high speed, which was important for a country like Italy which had a long coast line, the sacrifice of armor also meant that these otherwise heavy ships would fall within the limits of the Washington Naval Treaty. Construction of the first ship, Trento, began in 1925, but it was the second ship, Trieste, that was completed first. The third ship, Bolzano, was started in 1930 with several design changes as the engineers learned from the first two ships; due to the changes, some consider Bolzano to be at least of a different sub-class, rather than purely the third ship of the Trento-class.

ww2dbaseIt was later concluded that these cruisers, although fast, were at a disadvantage because they were so lightly armored. As a result, the Zara-class heavy cruisers were designed in the 1930s as essentially better armored Trento-class ships.

Trento-class Heavy Cruiser Interactive Map

Trento-class Heavy Cruiser Operational Timeline