page_title: Zara-class cruiser
section_title: General characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Zara-class cruiser / Design / General characteristics
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Итальянский тяжелый крейсер "Пола" English: Italian heavy cruiser Pola
context_page_description: The Zara class was a group of four heavy cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina in the late 1920s and the early 1930s. The class comprised the vessels Zara, Fiume, Gorizia, and Pola, the last of which was completed to a slightly different design. The ships were a substantial improvement over the preceding Trento-class cruisers, incorporating significantly heavier armor protection at the cost of the very high speed of the Trentos. They carried the same main battery of eight 203 mm guns and had a maximum speed of 32 knots. Among the best-protected heavy cruisers built by any navy in the 1930s, the heavy armor was acquired only by violating the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited cruiser displacement to 10,000 long tons.
  All four ships served with the main fleet in the interwar period, where they were primarily occupied with training exercises and fleet reviews. During the Spanish Civil War, Gorizia evacuated Italian nationals and Pola took part in non-intervention patrols. All four ships supported the Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II.
context_section_description: The ships of the Zara class were 179.6 meters (589 ft) long at the waterline and 182.8 m (600 ft) long overall. They had a beam of 20.62 m (67.7 ft) and a draft of 7.2 m (24 ft). The ships had a standard displacement of 11,326 to 11,712 long tons (11,508 to 11,900 t), and displaced 13,944 to 14,330 long tons (14,168 to 14,560 t) at full load, with Fiume being the lightest of the four and Gorizia the heaviest. The first three ships were built with light superstructures as a weight saving measure, but Pola, intended to serve as a flagship, received a much larger bridge structure to accommodate an admiral's staff. All four ships received two tripod masts, with the forward mast erected over the bridge. They had a crew of 841 officers and enlisted men. The ships carried a pair of IMAM Ro.43 seaplanes for aerial reconnaissance; the hangar was located under the forecastle and a fixed catapult was mounted on the centerline at the bow.
  The ships' power plant consisted of two Parsons steam turbines powered by eight oil-fired Thornycroft boilers, with the exception of Fiume, which received Yarrow boilers. The boilers were trunked into two funnels amidships. Their engines were rated at 95,000 shaft horsepower (71,000 kW) and produced a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph), though on sea trials all four vessels significantly exceeded those figures, reaching a minimum of 118,000 shp (88,000 kW) and speeds of 33 to 34 knots (61 to 63 km/h; 38 to 39 mph). Nevertheless, in service, their practical speeds were in the range of 31 to 32 knots (57 to 59 km/h; 36 to 37 mph). The vessels each carried 2,300 to 2,400 long tons (2,300 to 2,400 t) of fuel oil, which allowed them to steam for 4,850 to 5,400 nautical miles (8,980 to 10,000 km; 5,580 to 6,210 mi) at a cruising speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). When operating at maximum speed, their operational radius fell to 1,150 to 1,900 nautical miles (2,130 to 3,520 km; 1,320 to 2,190 mi), though due to the fact that Italian naval vessels were intended to operate only within the narrow confines of the Mediterranean Sea, their relatively short cruising range was not a significant problem.
caption: Line-drawing of Pola; Zara was similar in appearance
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