Vittorio Veneto-Class Helicopter Cruiser

The Italian cruiser ITS Vittorio Veneto (C550) docked at Malaga in 2001.

The Vittorio Veneto-class helicopter cruiser is a class of warship that served with the Italian Marina Militare, the Italian navy. Originally it was intended to be a class of two ships specifically designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), but only Vittorio Veneto entered into service in 1969, its sister ship Italia being cancelled. Vittorio Veneto was decommissioned in 2003. This ship has the same general layout as the smaller Andrea Doria-class helicopter cruisers, but with two elevators in the flight deck and the hangar below. In 2009, the Vittorio Veneto was turned into a museum ship.

Specifications

• Type: Helicopter Cruiser
• Service Period: 1969-2003
• Characteristics:
  • Length: 589 feet 3 inches (179.6 meters)
  • Beam: 63 feet 7.76 inches (19.4 meters)
  • Draught: 19 feet 8.22 inches (6 meters)
  • Displacement: 8,400 tons (Standard); 9,912 tons (Full Load)
• Crew: 557
• Propulsion: 4 x Foster Wheeler boilers, 2 x shaft geared turbines, 73,000 shp
• Range: 5,000 nautical miles (9,260 kilometers) at 16 knots (29.63 km/h)
• Speed: 30 knots (55.56 km/h)
• Sensor Suite:
  • 1 x SPS-52 early warning Radar
  • 1 x SPS-768 long range Radar
  • 1 x SPQ-2 surface search Radar
  • 2 x SPG-55 missile fire control Radar
  • 4 x Orion 10X fire control Radar
  • 2 x Orion 20X fire control Radar
  • 1 x navigation Radar
  • 1 x AN/SQS-23 Sonar
• Countermeasures:
  • 2 x SCLAR decoy launcher
  • 1 x ECM system
  • 1 x TACAN
• Armament (As Built):
  • 8 x Oto Melara 76/62mm MMI or 76/62 mm Compact gun
  • 1 x Mk.10 Missile Launcher (fires 40 RIM-2 Terrier SAMs and 20 RUR-5 ASROC ASW Missiles)
  • 2 x 324 mm triple torpedo tubes
• Armament (Post 1980-1982 Modernization):
  • 8 x Oto Melara 76/62mm MMI or 76/62 mm Compact gun
  • 3 x Oto Melara Twin 40L70 DARDO
  • 1 x Twin Arm Missile Launcher (fires 40 RIM-66 SM-1ER and 20 RUR-5 ASROC ASW Rockets)
  • 4 x OTOMAT SSMs
  • 2 x 324 mm triple torpedo tubes
• Aircraft Carried: 9 x Augusta AB204/Augusta AB212 helicopters or 6 x AB-61 maritime helicopter helicopters

Unit Run

• ITS Vittorio Veneto (C550)
• ITS Italia (C551) - cancelled