The ships carried enough coal and oil to give them a range of at . ===Armament and armor=== The main battery of the Conte di Cavour class consisted of thirteen 305-millimeter Model 1909 guns, in five centerline gun turrets, with a twin-gun turret superfiring over a triple-gun turret in fore and aft pairs, and a third triple turret amidships.
{| |} Giulio Cesare was one of three dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) in the 1910s.
shipyard in Genoa on 24 June 1910 and launched on 15 October 1911.
shipyard in Genoa on 24 June 1910 and launched on 15 October 1911.
Completed in 1914, she was little used and saw no combat during the First World War.
She was completed on 14 May 1914 and served as a flagship in the southern Adriatic Sea during World War I.
Meanwhile, Revel's battleships would be preserved to confront the Austro-Hungarian battle fleet in the event that it sought a decisive engagement. Giulio Cesare made port visits in the Levant in 1919 and 1920.
Meanwhile, Revel's battleships would be preserved to confront the Austro-Hungarian battle fleet in the event that it sought a decisive engagement. Giulio Cesare made port visits in the Levant in 1919 and 1920.
The ship supported operations during the Corfu Incident in 1923 and spent much of the rest of the decade in reserve.
Both Giulio Cesare and Conte di Cavour supported Italian operations on Corfu in 1923 after an Italian general and his staff were murdered at the Greek–Albanian frontier; Benito Mussolini, who had been looking for a pretext to seize Corfu, ordered Italian troops to occupy the island.
In 1925–1926 the foremast was replaced by a four-legged (tetrapodal) mast, which was moved forward of the funnels, the rangefinders were upgraded, and the ship was equipped to handle a Macchi M.18 seaplane mounted on the amidships turret.
Cesare became a gunnery training ship in 1928, after having been in reserve since 1926.
Cesare became a gunnery training ship in 1928, after having been in reserve since 1926.
She was rebuilt between 1933 and 1937 with more powerful guns, additional armor and considerably more speed than before. During World War II, both Giulio Cesare and her sister ship, , participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940, when the former was lightly damaged.
Around that same time, either one or both of the ships was equipped with a fixed aircraft catapult on the port side of the forecastle. Giulio Cesare began an extensive reconstruction in October 1933 at the Cantieri del Tirreno shipyard in Genoa that lasted until October 1937.
She was reconstructed at Cantieri del Tirreno, Genoa, between 1933 and 1937.
On her sea trials in December 1936, before her reconstruction was fully completed, Giulio Cesare reached a speed of from .
She was rebuilt between 1933 and 1937 with more powerful guns, additional armor and considerably more speed than before. During World War II, both Giulio Cesare and her sister ship, , participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940, when the former was lightly damaged.
Around that same time, either one or both of the ships was equipped with a fixed aircraft catapult on the port side of the forecastle. Giulio Cesare began an extensive reconstruction in October 1933 at the Cantieri del Tirreno shipyard in Genoa that lasted until October 1937.
She was reconstructed at Cantieri del Tirreno, Genoa, between 1933 and 1937.
Both ships participated in a naval review by Adolf Hitler in the Bay of Naples in May 1938 and covered the invasion of Albania in May 1939. ===World War II=== Early in World War II, the ship took part in the Battle of Calabria (also known as the Battle of Punto Stilo), together with Conte di Cavour, on 9 July 1940, as part of the 1st Battle Squadron, commanded by Admiral Inigo Campioni, during which she engaged major elements of the British Mediterranean Fleet.
Both ships participated in a naval review by Adolf Hitler in the Bay of Naples in May 1938 and covered the invasion of Albania in May 1939. ===World War II=== Early in World War II, the ship took part in the Battle of Calabria (also known as the Battle of Punto Stilo), together with Conte di Cavour, on 9 July 1940, as part of the 1st Battle Squadron, commanded by Admiral Inigo Campioni, during which she engaged major elements of the British Mediterranean Fleet.
She was rebuilt between 1933 and 1937 with more powerful guns, additional armor and considerably more speed than before. During World War II, both Giulio Cesare and her sister ship, , participated in the Battle of Calabria in July 1940, when the former was lightly damaged.
They were both present when British torpedo bombers attacked the fleet at Taranto in November 1940, but Giulio Cesare was not damaged.
She escorted several convoys to North Africa and participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento in late 1940 and the First Battle of Sirte in late 1941.
In 1940 the 13.2 mm machine guns were replaced by AA guns in twin mounts.
Both ships participated in a naval review by Adolf Hitler in the Bay of Naples in May 1938 and covered the invasion of Albania in May 1939. ===World War II=== Early in World War II, the ship took part in the Battle of Calabria (also known as the Battle of Punto Stilo), together with Conte di Cavour, on 9 July 1940, as part of the 1st Battle Squadron, commanded by Admiral Inigo Campioni, during which she engaged major elements of the British Mediterranean Fleet.
Repairs to Giulio Cesare were completed by the end of August and both ships unsuccessfully attempted to intercept British convoys to Malta in August and September. On the night of 11 November 1940, Giulio Cesare and the other Italian battleships were at anchor in Taranto harbor when they were attacked by 21 Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier , along with several other warships.
She participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento on 27 November 1940, but never got close enough to any British ships to fire at them.
She escorted several convoys to North Africa and participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento in late 1940 and the First Battle of Sirte in late 1941.
Giulio Cesare received two more twin mounts as well as four additional 37 mm guns in twin mounts on the forecastle between the two turrets in 1941.
The ship was damaged in January 1941 by splinters from a near miss during an air raid on Naples by Vickers Wellington bombers of the Royal Air Force; repairs at Genoa were completed in early February.
She participated in the First Battle of Sirte on 17 December 1941, providing distant cover for a convoy bound for Libya, and briefly engaging the escort force of a British convoy.
She was designated as a training ship in early 1942, and escaped to Malta after the Italian armistice the following year.
She also provided distant cover for another convoy to North Africa in early January 1942.
After the Italian surrender on 9 September 1943, she steamed to Taranto, putting down a mutiny and enduring an ineffective attack by five German aircraft en route.
The ship remained there until 17 June 1944 when she returned to Taranto where she remained for the next four years. ===Soviet service=== After the war, Giulio Cesare was allocated to the Soviet Union as part of the war reparations.
She was moved to Augusta, Sicily, on 9 December 1948, where an unsuccessful attempt was made at sabotage.
The ship was transferred to the Soviet Union in 1949 and renamed Novorossiysk (Новороссийск).
The ship was stricken from the naval register on 15 December and turned over to the Soviets on 6 February 1949 under the temporary name of Z11 in Vlorë, Albania.
In 1953, all Italian light AA guns were replaced by eighteen 37 mm 70-K AA guns in six twin mounts and six singles.
The Soviets also used her for training until she was sunk in 1955, with the loss of 608 men, when an old German mine exploded.
While at anchor in Sevastopol on the night of 28/29 October 1955, an explosion ripped a hole in the forecastle forward of 'A' turret.
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