Reconstruction and World War II
The reconstruction process left only 40% of the original structure. The central 305 mm turret was removed, and the remaining guns of the same caliber were upgraded to 320 mm. The new engines were able to provide 93,000 hp (69,000 kW), allowing Conte di Cavour to reach 28 knots (52 km/h). Overall, it was a good unit, even if with weak anti-aircraft and submarine protections.
Conte di Cavour was returned to the Regia Marina on 1 June 1937; it was in Taranto at the beginning of the World War II, on 10 June 1940.
On 9 July 1940 it participated in the Battle of Calabria, which was the first between Italian and British navies. During the Battle of Taranto, 11 November–12 November 1940, Conte di Cavour was sunk in shallow waters by a torpedo dropped by a British aircraft during the attack on the naval base of Taranto. The ship was raised at the end of 1941, and then sent to Trieste to be repaired and upgraded in the anti-aircraft armament, but it never returned to active duty.
On 10 September 1943, Conte di Cavour was captured by Germans, but later abandoned during Allied bombing of Trieste on 15 February 1945. The battleship was scrapped on 27 February 1947.
Read more about this topic: Italian Battleship Conte Di Cavour
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