Light Cruisers: RM Bari

[Brian James]

Light Cruiser RM Bari pictured at Taranto c1929.
She initially started life in the Imperial Russian navy under the name IRN Maraviev Amurskyy at the Schichau-Werke Shipyards at Danzig in 1913 and launched in April 1914. Following the outbreak of World War I, she was confiscated in August 1914 and renamed SMS Pillau in honor of the East Prussian port of Pillau (now Baltiysk, Russia).She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in December 1914. The lead ship of her Class, she had one sister ship, Elbing. She was armed with a main battery of eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 27.5 kts.
Pillau spent the majority of her career in the II Scouting Group, and saw service in both the Baltic and North Seas. In August 1915, she participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga against the Russian Navy, and on May 31st – June 1st 1916, she saw significant action at the Battle of Jutland. She was hit by a large-calibre shell once in the engagement, but suffered only moderate damage. She assisted the badly damaged Battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz reach port on June 2nd after the conclusion of the battle. She also took part in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, though was not damaged in the engagement. Pillau was assigned to the planned, final operation of the High Seas Fleet in the closing weeks of the war, but a large scale mutiny forced it to be canceled.
After the end of the war, Pillau was ceded to Italy as a war prize in 1920. Renamed Bari, she was commissioned in the Regia Marina in January 1924. She was modified and rebuilt several times over the next two decades. In the early years of World War II, she provided gunfire support to Italian troops in several engagements in the Mediterranean. In 1943, she was slated to become an Anti-Aircraft Defense Ship, but while awaiting conversion, she was sunk by USAAF bombers in Livorno in June 1943. The wreck was partially scrapped by the Germans in 1944, and ultimately raised for scrapping in January 1948.

[ivorthediver]

Thank you for your detailed and interesting post Brian

[designeraccd]

She definitely FOUGHT at Jutland; then had a rather long life after.......

"The cruiser Pillau, given to Italy by Germany after WWI. IN the ’20s the only modification was mounting three 76/40 AA guns instead of the two German 88 mm. She served in that form until the mid ’30s when she was refitted yet again: the main changes where in the machinery(the six coal burning boilers were removed and replaced with oil tanks), removal of the fore funnel, the torpedo tubes were removed and AA armament was improved. After the refit she served in Africa until 1938, when she was replaced by RN Eritrea. When WWII started she was first assigned at Taranto for the protection of the base and then became the flag ship of the “Forza Navale Speciale”(the litteral translation: Special Naval Force, SNF in short), created to support the amphibious assaults. She was supposed to lead the invasion of Malta(Operation “C3”) but, due to how the war was going, the operation was called off. After Operation Torch she carried troops to Bastia for the occupation of Bastia. Soon after the SNF was disbanded and Bari was supposed to be refitted as anti aircraft cruiser in the naval shipyard of Leghorn. She was badly damaged during an Allied bombardment on 28/6/1943 and then scuttled after the Armistice. She was partially scrapped by Germans in 1944. After WWII the hulk of Bari was raised and finally scrapped in 1948.

Technical data

Standard displacement: 5156 tons

Full load displacement: 5305 tons

Length: 134.3 m(water line), 135.3 m(overall length)

Beam: 13.6 m

Draught: 5.98 max load

Installed power: 27.000 hp

Maximum speed: 27 knots

Armament: 8×1 149/43, 2×1 88/45, 2×1 500 mm TT

Refits:

-1921/23: -2×1 88/45; +3×1 76/40

-1934/35: 6 coal boilers were removed(21000 hp, 24.5 knots[/b]), fore funnel was removed, oil reserves increased, -2×1 500 mm TT; +3×2 20/65, 3×2 13.2/76, displacement was 3248/5220 tons

-1940/41: +6×1 20/65"

Built my lil model of her as SMS PILLAU... DFO

[ivorthediver]

Great post Dennis thank you , and another model to boot , do you live in a hanger ? your Navy is a fair size now , and a nightmare to keep free of dust ........well done you .

[designeraccd]

I built the PILLAU decades ago, but she was another one rebuilt because of "new" pictures and accurate drawings that were not available when I originally built her. DFO

[ivorthediver]

Well you can only work with what's in front of you mate , and all my models have " Refits " so know exactly what you mean ........so Keep the edge Brother ! .....well done

Meant to say "Thanks " earlier for the detail on her type , always a real " Cherry on the Cake " when there added and enhances the subject I think , so again my thanks for that .

[Brian James]

Italian Light Cruiser RN Bari pictured moored at Patras, Greece in May 1941, several weeks after the city was captured by German SS troops. She started life as the Russian Cruiser Muravyov-Amurskiy, a ship ordered by the Russians in 1913 from Schichau-Werke Shipyards at Danzig with the ship being laid down in the same year. However, when World War I broke out she had yet to be completed and the Germans confiscated her and renamed her Pillau. The Germans would complete the vessel in December 1914 and Pillau would serve with the German Navy during World War I. After the war she was given to the Italians as war reparations in July of 1920.