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RN Alberico da Barbiano

Alberico da Barbiano was the fourth and final Giussano class light cruiser. She, much like Giussano herself did not contribute much to the war effort due to her extremely weak armor. In 1944, Barbiano and Giussano began conversion into AA cruisers, intended to return to the Pacific. Her return was postponed once the German invasion began, and Barbiano sailed to La Spezia with Giussano to serve as the bulk of the port's AA defenses. In the three months she was in La Spezia, she claimed 6 German bombers. Giussano left two days before Barbiano, and Barbiano followed her sister's path to Taranto. Barbiano would serve as Taranto's AA defense, and claimed either 13 aircraft shot down according to her captain, or 8 according to official records. Barbiano would be attacked at night when captured Italian submarine Pier Capponi slipped into Taranto harbor. and fired all four of her bow torpedoes at Barbiano, which was moored in the middle of the port. Barbiano was hit twice, and crippled. The vessel rolled over to port completely after 20 minutes, and settled in the mud. Barbiano was raised two months later, and work began briefly to restore her. the issues faced were the fact her entire superstructure was smashed against the mud, and broke apart upon righting her. Barbiano was to become a training ship, and the hulk sat in a drydock for five years in an unfinished state until it was decided to scrap her in 1954.