Giulio Cesare

The story of Giulio Cesare

Giulio Cesare ("Julius Caeser") was one of three dreadnoughts built by Italy for the Italian Navy, to the Conte di Cavour class standard. The sisters included Conte di Cavour himself and Leonardo da Vinci. The course was built in the period before the First World War (1914-1918) and all managed to see action in the Second World War (1939-1945).

This article focuses on Giulio Cesare, set by Gio's builders. Ansaldo & C. of Genoa launched on June 24, 1910, and on October 15, 1911.

She officially entered service on June 7, 1914 - enabling her to participate in the various naval engagements of World War I. At the time, she did not see any fighting in the conflict.

Tour

At the time of construction, the warship displaces 23,500 tons under standard load and up to 25,500 tons under full load. Dimensions include a barrel length of 577.4 feet, a beam of 91.9 feet and a draft of up to 30.5 feet.

Installed power consists of 24 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, powering 4 steam turbines driving 4 shafts under the stern. Under ideal conditions, the vessel can travel at 21.5 knots and reach a range of 4,800 nautical miles.

There are approximately 1,000 crew members on board, including 31 officer-level personnel. Armor protection reaches 9.8 inches at the waterline, 1.6 inches on the deck, 9.1 inches on the turret, and 11 inches on the conning tower.

Her original configuration called for five main turrets on her decktwo forward, two aft, and one midship. The midship bracket is spanned by a front and rear funnel. The bridge superstructure was integrated into the design behind the second front main tower.

Two slender masts are located amidships in the two funnels.

Weapons are spearheaded by 13 x 305 mm (12 in) guns housed in three triple gun turrets and two twin gun turrets. The rear is a 18 x 120 mm (4.7 mm) single-armed gun, 14 x 76. The 2 mm (3 in) gun is mounted in a single gun mount and 3 x 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes.

Early Service

Giulio Cesare did not see direct combat with the enemy in all the battles of World War I. In 1923, she was involved in supporting Italy's position in the Corfu affair, which pitted Italy against Greece after the assassination of an Italian general on Greek soil (eventually an agreement brokered by the League of Nations was signed).

1933-1937 Reconstruction

Between 1933 and 1937 (the period before World War II), Giulio Cesare was rebuilt to allow her to serve in the Italian Navy as a viable navy. Changes include a major revision to her propulsion scheme: 24 boiler units were replaced with just 8 Yarrow boilers, which now power 2 geared steam turbines driving 2 shafts under the stern. In return, the warship's top speed has been increased to 27 knots, with a range of up to 6,400 nautical miles. Her crew also increased to 1,260. Weapons now include 10 x 320 mm (12.6 in) main guns in two triple and two twin turrets, 6 x 120 mm twin arm guns and 4 x 100 mm (4 in)/47 caliber anti-twin guns Machine guns (AA) on the rack.

The armor on the deck is up to 6.5 inches thick, and the turret provides up to 11 inches of protection.

The final ship is faster, has longer range, more powerful guns, and more armor than before. The piece rewrites her profile, pointing out the most notable changes to the midship, the removal of the central turret and the installation of a new smoke funnel.

The mast has also been repainted, the front is minimized and the rear is now supported by the rear pipe.

World War II

Their most high-profile actions took place during World War II, more specifically during the Battle of Calabria on July 9, 1940. This indecisive engagement resulted in the Italian navy confronting divisions of the British and Australian navies in the Mediterranean campaign.

HMS Warspite successfully hit Giulio Cesare, causing fire and smoke near the tail smoke funnel. In the event of a slowdown, the warship and its accompanying fleet retreated to safety - as did the Allied fleet.

After repairs by the end of August 1940, she was stationed in the Mediterranean to support the Axis convoy in exchange for delays by the Allies.

Giulio Cesare was one of the ships that appeared in the port of Taranto during the British raid on 11 November 1940. The sister ship Conte di Cavour was torpedoed, but Giulio Cesare survived the attack unscathed. The Battle of Cape Spartevento followed on November 27, 1940, but the battleship was barely recorded during the disturbance.

In January 1941, British bombers inflicted minor damage on her.

The first naval battle of Sirte took place on 17 December 1941 in the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, ending another inconclusive theater naval battle. The Italian army again faced British and Australian forces, this time with the Dutch.

Two Allied destroyers suffered minor damage (one sailor lost) in limited combat.

In early 1942, Giulio Cesare returned to Taranto to build a training platform for the foreseeable future. Italy's surrender to the Allies in September 1943 made her a target for the Germans, who (unsuccessfully) attacked the ship in March 1944.

She remained in the waters of Taranto for the remainder of the war and for the years after - her combat days in Italian service were not officially over.

Novorossiysk

In the postwar period, she was handed over to the Soviet Navy as reparations on 6 February 1949 and was subsequently named "Novorossiysk". She was used again as a training platform - this time for a new generation of Soviet sailors - and was modernized with native systems and weapons as time and money allowed.

On October 28, 1955, while moored in Sevastopol, an explosion (probably from a German wartime mine) sank her and took 608 souls.

The warship was officially removed from the Naval Register on 24 February 1956. Once raised, it was stripped of its military value and sold as scrap in 1957.

Specification

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Performance

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Wing