Overview
Bartolomeo Colleoni was an Italian light cruiser, that served in the (Royal Navy) during World War II. She was named after Bartolomeo Colleoni, an Italian military leader of the 15th century.
She was sunk at the Battle of Cape Spada early in the war.
Design
In the aftermath of World War I, the Italian (Royal Navy) received a group of light cruisers from the defeated German and Austro-Hungarian fleets. At the time, the Italian naval command was satisfied with these vessels as a supplement to their existing scout cruisers in the immediate postwar era. After the French Navy began building twelve large destroyers of the and es, the Italian command responded by ordering the four s. The s were intended to overpower the new French destroyers with superior armament and very high speed, at the expense of most armor protection.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
