Vittorio Veneto

Vittorio Veneto was a helicopter cruiser that served with the Italian Navy. Originally intended to be a class of two ships specifically designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), only Vittorio Veneto entered into service in 1969, its sister ship Italia being cancelled. Vittorio Veneto was placed into reserve in 2003 and decommissioned in 2006. This ship has the same general layout as the smaller helicopter cruisers, but with two elevators in the flight deck and the hangar below, rather than with the hangar as part of the superstructure. It was named for the decisive Battle of Vittorio Veneto which ended World War I on the Italian front. Design Vittorio Veneto has a displacement of 7,500 tons standard and 8,850 tons fully loaded. Unlike the Andrea Dorias, which had separate funnels, it has two combination mast/funnels. The second major difference in design is the location of the helicopter facilities. Vittorio Veneto has a raised rear deck to accommodate a hangar beneath the helicopter platform, rather than a frigate/destroyer style hangar in the superstructure. There are two elevators to transfer the helicopters between the hangar and the deck. Originally the ship carried armament similar to the Andrea Dorias comprising a Terrier anti-aircraft system situated in front of the bridge, which could also be used to launch ASROC antisubmarine rockets. Compared to the Andrea Dorias, Vittorio Venetos missile magazine has a third drum, increasing magazine capacity by a half to sixty rounds. The secondary armament comprised eight dual-purpose guns in a ring around the superstructure, similar to the Andrea Dorias. Finally, the vessel was armed with two triple 324 mm torpedo launchers. Vittorio Veneto could operate up to nine light helicopters, of the types Agusta-Bell AB-204 or later AB-212 or six heavy helicopters of the type AB-61, which could be housed in the hangar beneath the long rear deck. The electronics were rather advanced for the time, comprising a three-dimensional AN/SPS-52 B radar and an SPS-768 (RAN 3L) air search radar. For anti-submarine warfare an AN/SQS-23 sonar set was installed.