Shipbucket

At the end of WW1, the German light cruiser Pillau was ceded to Italy, and renamed Bari. At this same time, the cruisers Taranto (ex SMS Strassburg) and Ancona (ex SMS Graudenz) were among the most powerful in the Italian Navy, which previously had three obsolete cruisers, the Quarto, and the Nino Bixio class. Both were inferior in armament and protection to the new German ships. Bari would remain one of the most powerful cruisers of the Regia Marina until the end of 1928 when the Trento class cruisers entered service.

By the 1930s the Condottieri class ships were available in numbers and the Zara class had entered service as well. With no further need for Bari and the rest of the German ships in front line service, she was refit for colonial service starting in 1933. Her fore funnel was removed and replaced with more oil bunkerage, and her boilers were converted to oil firing. This reduced her speed to 25 knots, and her cruising radius at 14 knots increased from 2600 nm to 4000 nm.

Over the course of her remaining service life she would be refit with a number of Breda 13mm and 20mm AA guns. In 1942 she received camouflage of a type similar to that seen on other surviving Regia Marina cruisers.



Eventually she would meet her end in an Allied bombing raid in 1943, at Livorno. She sank into the shallow water on her side, and was partially scrapped by German forces there. She was only removed from the Navy list in 1947, and the final scrapping took place in 1948, putting a final end to one of the longest serving German veterans of Jutland.

(drawing was made using Garlicdesign's excellent 1918 rendition of SMS Pillau, modified to match photographs of the Bari in Italian service)

Very nice work!

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Nice to see the Italian revival of late.

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Here the ship is in her 1929 configuration, serving as part of the 1st Cruiser Squadron based in La Spezia. Differing from her original appearance, she has a much more built up bridge and the fore funnel has been cut down. However she has not received AA guns or been modified for colonial service yet, producing a distinct appearance.

@Scootia23,

Very nice work on the 1928 drawing!

As for the resident naysayer, posting sources is fine; the sarcastic comments we can definitely do without.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB