Vittorio Veneto's sun has set in June of this year. She was the last cruiser built in Western
Europe and the flagship of the Italian Navy from 1969 until 1987. Comparing its size,
this surface combatant had impressive firepower and aviation capabilities. Now, we are investigating
the Vittorio Veneto helicopter cruiser, a ship that closed an era in Western Europe.
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Vittorio Veneto was one of the most impressive Western surface combatants with her classically
beautiful Italian design and high combat capabilities. Although this helicopter cruiser never fired
its weapons in anger, Vittorio Veneto participated in many important missions and became a memorable
naval ship. Two important breaking points had shaped the design of Vittorio Veneto;
the applying missile technologies on the surface combatant and the emerging helicopter cruiser
concept. The victors of the Second World War had brought
many German engineers and blueprints to their countries. So, their previous efforts on air
defence missiles had accelerated. The early ground base examples had reached
maturity in the early 1950s. Now, they initiated to work on naval applications.
In the mid-1950s, the US Navy began converting some of its Second World War-vintage gun cruisers
to guided missile cruisers. It quickly became a new trend for many navies.
In 1962, the Soviet Navy fitted one of the Sverdlov-class cruisers, Dzerzhinsky, with
the naval version of the S-75 missile, whose NATO reporting name is SA-N-2A.
Two years later, HNLMS De Ruyter now had the RIM-2 Terrier missiles.
In 1972, France converted FS Colbert to a guided-missile cruiser.
Yet, Italy had been the first country to follow the USA in this new era. In 1961, this country
had already converted the Second World War-vintage Abruzzi-class cruiser, Giuseppe Garibaldi,
to a guided-missile cruiser. Also, before that, the Italian Navy had ordered
three Andrea Doria-class guided-missile helicopter cruisers in 1957.
Now, we should mention the second important breaking point, the newly emerging helicopter
cruiser concept at that time. Conventional warships can carry one or two
helicopters. Their helipads are suitable for operating one rotary-wing aircraft at once.
But, a helicopter cruiser could accommodate more helicopters, in some examples up to 14,
and many of them could simultaneously operate more than one.
The pioneers of this concept were France and Italy. In 1957, both countries ordered the
first helicopter cruisers of the world. The Frenchs designed FS Jeanne d'Arc as a
training vessel in peacetime and an anti-submarine warfare ship and commando carrier in wartime.
But, the Andre Doria-class of the Italian Navy was a pure anti-submarine warfare ship.
Following these countries, the USSR commissioned two Project 1123 Kondor-class helicopter cruisers,
whose NATO reporting name is Moskva-class, between 1967 and 1969.
Also, the Royal Navy converted the Tiger-class cruisers, HMS Blake and HMS Tiger, to helicopter
cruisers between 1965 and 1972. We should add that the US Navy initiated the
DDH-997 programme, which would intend to design a helicopter destroyer version of the Suprance-class.
But later, Washington cancelled the project. Also, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
commissioned two Haruna and Shirane-class helicopter destroyers in the 1970s and 1980s.
As mentioned before, the Andre Doria-class, which carried four AB-204 helicopters, was
the pioneer of helicopter cruisers. Initially, Italy planned to have three ships of this
class but commissioned only Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio. The third cruiser, Enrico Dandolo,
was cancelled in favour of the more advanced and enlarged Vittorio Veneto. Because the
operational experience quickly showed that the 6,500-ton Andrea Doria-class' design had
been too small. Initially, Italy intended to build two ships
of the Vittorio Veneto-class. But, the second cruiser, Italia, was cancelled
in favour of the Giuseppe Garibaldi. Vittorio Veneto was laid down in 1965, launched
in 1967, commissioned in 1969. She had a similar layout as the Andrea Doria-class.
But, different from her predecessors, Vittorio Veneto had two elevators and an enlarged aft
flight deck. Also, the ship had two combination mast/funnels,
rather than separate funnels of the Andrea Doria-class.
The cruiser was fitted with stabilizing fins to improve stability for helicopter operations.
Thanks to the onboard AN/SQS-23 sonar, torpedo tubes, and the RUR-5A ASROC missiles, Vittorio
Veneto also had an excellent anti-submarine warfare capability for its time without using
its helicopters. The complement of Vittorio Veneto was 557-person.
Her standard displacement was 7,500 tons, while her fully loaded displacement was 9,500
tons. The ship had a length of 179.6 metres, a beam of 19.4 metres, and a draught of 6
metres. The propulsion system consisted of four Foster-Wheeler boilers and two Tosi turbines,
which provided 73,000 horsepower. Her maximum speed was 32 knots. The ship could reach a
range of 9,260 kilometres, in other words, 5,000 nautical miles, at an economical speed
of 17 knots. Initially, Vittorio Veneto had one twin-arm Mk 10 launcher for the RIM-2
Terrier air defence missiles and RUR-5A ASROC anti-submarine warfare missiles. The ship
also had eight 76mm 62 calibre Allargato guns and two triple-324mm Mk 32 torpedo tubes.
Later, Vittorio Veneto was fitted with four OTOMAT anti-ship missiles and three additional
40mm twin-barrel Dardo close-in weapon systems, and the SM-1ER missiles replaced the Terriers.
The D-band SPS-768, also known as RAN-3L, air search radar had a maximum range of 200
kilometres, while the range of E/F-band SPS-52 was 450 kilometres. The ship also had the
I-band SPQ-2 surface search radar with a range of 74 kilometres.
Vittorio Veneto had the Systema Direzione della Operazioni di Combattimento 1, shortly
SADOC 1, command system. It was the first Italian Navy computerised command system.
The Mk10 twin-arm launcher of the ship could fire air defence missiles and anti-submarine
warfare rockets. Initially, Vittorio Veneto had the RIM-2 Terrier air defence missiles,
whose maximum speed was Mach 3. The Terrier was effective at a range of 32 kilometres
and an altitude of 24,000 metres, in other words, 80,000 feet. It had a 99-kilogram controlled-fragmentation
warhead. The SM-1ER replaced the RIM-2 in the early
1980s. This missile increased the air defence area to 64 kilometres. It had a maximum speed
of 2.5 and an effective altitude of 24,400 metres, in other words, 80,100 feet.
The RUR-5 ASROC consisted essentially of an active/passive acoustic homing Mk 46 torpedo
with strap-on aerodynamic surfaces and a rocket motor to enable it to fly within range of
its submarine target. This subsonic missile could reach a range of 10 kilometres.
Vittorio Veneto was carrying 40 air defence and 20 anti-submarine warfare missiles.
The Italian Navy equipped the cruiser with four OTOMAT anti-ship missiles during the
modernization in the early 1980s. The missile with a 210-kilogram semi-armour-piercing warhead
had a maximum speed of Mach 0.91 and a range of 160 kilometres.
Vittorio Veneto had eight 76mm/L62 Allargato, also known as OTOBREDA 76 mm (3 in)/62 MMI,
guns, whose rate of fire was 59 rounds per minute. The gun had a maximum range of 18,400
metres, and it had effective both surface and air targets.
The 76mm/L62 Allargato was not effective against anti-ship missiles.
So, the Italian Navy added three 40mm twin-barrel Dardo onto the ship in the early 1980s. This
gun could engage the air targets, including the sea-skimming missile at the range of 4,000
metres. Its rate of fire was 900 rounds per minute.
All 76mm and 40mm guns were radar-controlled. Also, Vittorio Veneto was "fitted for but
not with" four Polaris missile launchers. During the refit in the early 1980s, these
launchers were removed. The cruiser's aft flight deck was 40 metres
long and 18.6 metres wide. The hangar, which was below the deck, had a length of 27.5 metres
and a width of 15.3 metres. Two elevators connected the deck and hangar. Each of them
was 18 metres long and 5.3 metres wide. Initially, Vittorio Veneto carried nine AB
204 helicopters. Later, the AB 212s replaced them. The ship's
hangar could accommodate all nine AB 212s. On the paper, Vittorio Veneto could also carry
six heavy ASH-3H Sea King helicopters. But, the hangar was too small for them. So, the
cruiser could accommodate the Sea Kings only on the flight deck.
Even she never fired her weapons in anger, the operational career of Vittorio Veneto
was quite busy. In its early years, the cruiser served many
important humanitarian missions. The ship took part in the rescue operations
in the 1976 Friuli earthquake. In 1979, the Italian Navy sent Vittorio Veneto
alongside Andrea Doria cruiser and Stromboli replenishment ship to the Gulf of Thailand
to rescue Vietnamese refugees, called boat people. The Naval Group VIII, consisting of
these three ships, saved and brought about a thousand Vietnamese to Italy.
In 1980, this time, Vittorio Veneto helped the victims of the Irpinia earthquake.
In 1984, the Italian Navy tasked her with a real military mission when Italy sent its
soldiers to Lebanon for the UN mission. It was the first deployment of the Italian combat
troops outside of the country since the Second World War. Vittorio Veneto escorted the troop
transport ships and patrolled near the Lebanese coasts to support ground units if demanded.
The ship took part in Operation Margherita. And, she began to monitor the transatlantic
Achille Lauro hijacked by the Palestine Liberation Front as a terrorist act. The SH-3 helicopters
took off from Vittorio Veneto transported the commandoes of the Italian Navy's special
operations unit, who landed on the ship. The aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi took
over the title, the flagship of the Italian Navy, from Vittorio Veneto in 1987.
During Operation Ibis, Vittorio Veneto served as the flagship of the 24th Naval Group of
the Italian Navy. This group also included the Maestrale-class frigate Grecale, the Stromboli-class
replenishment ship Vesuvio, and San Giorgio and San Marco landing ships, which transported
the troopers of the San Marco Battalion to Somalia.
Between April 20 to September 8, 1993, the cruiser participated in Operation Maritime
Guard. During this time, she was the command headquarters ship ​of NATO's fleet, which
blockaded the maritime arms traffic to the former Yugoslavia.
In the 1997 Albanian Civil War, the Italian Navy deployed Vittorio Veneto to the offshore
waters of Albania. The cruiser was the flagship of the multinational task force that protected
aid deliveries to this country. During the mission, because of severe weather conditions,
she ran aground off the port of Vlorë. Later, Vittorio Veneto was refloated by four tugboats
without damage. On November 1, 2003, the Italian Navy decommissioned
Vittorio Veneto. On June 29, 2006, she was disarmed and stricken from the list. In the
beginning, Italy planned to turn this cruiser into the first Italian museum ship. But due
to budget problems and the massive presence of asbestos in the ship, Rome abandoned the
plan. In 2018, Vittorio Veneto was put up for sale.
On June 8, 2021, the ship left Taranto harbour towards Aliağa in Turkey, where she would
be scrapped. It was the symbol of the closing era. She
was the last cruiser built in Western Europe. Vittorio Veneto was also one of the two cruisers
to remain in service with the Western European navies.
The final was the FS Jeanne d'Arc, which was decommissioned in 2010.
Initially, the Italian Navy had classified Giuseppe Garibaldi as an aircraft-carrying
cruiser but later reclassified her aircraft carrier. Some viewers may claim that Giuseppe
Garibaldi is the last Western European cruiser. Let's be realistic. She is not.
Vittorio Veneto was one of the most strikingly beautiful warships of the last 50 years. Her
firepower was quite impressive. Yes, she never fought. Still, Vittorio Veneto will always
have a special place in the naval enthusiasts' memories and hearts.
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