Italian Navy Heavy Cruiser Pola.
Pola was the fourth and final ship of the Zara-class of heavy cruisers built for the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in the early 1930s. Commissioned in December 1932 and named after the city of Pola (now Pula, Croatia), a distinguishing feature was a larger conning tower and bridge to function as a flagship for an admiral's staff, visually setting her apart from her three sisters Zara, Fiume, Gorizia.
Armament – Main battery of eight 203 mm (8-inch) guns in four twin turrets.
Armour – Exceptionally heavy for a cruiser, with a 150 mm (5.9 in) armoured belt. This high level of protection technically exceeded the 10,000-ton limit of the Washington Naval Treaty.
Aircraft – Two IMAM Ro. 43 reconnaissance seaplanes, launched by a fixed catapult at the bow.
Pola initially served as the flagship of the 2nd Squadron. She participated in the Battle of Calabria (July 1940) and the Battle of Cape Spartivento (November 1940), where she briefly engaged the British cruiser HMS Berwick. Pola was lost at the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941, along with her sister ships Zara and Fiume, in one of the Regia Marina’s most disastrous defeats. During the evening engagement of March 28, 1941, Pola was struck by an aerial torpedo from a British Swordfish or Albacore, flooding her engine room and knocking out both propulsion and electrical power, leaving her immobilised. Believing the area clear of major British units, Admiral Iachino ordered Zara, Fiume and their escorting destroyers to turn back in darkness to assist the disabled cruiser. Lacking radar, the Italian force sailed directly into the path of the British battleships Warspite, Valiant and Barham, which, guided by superior radar, illuminated the unsuspecting ships with searchlights and destroyed Zara and Fiume at point-blank range. Pola was located later that night by British destroyers; after survivors were taken off and she was judged beyond salvage, HMS Jervis and HMS Nubian sank her with torpedoes in the early hours of March 29, 1941. The loss of all three Zara-class cruisers at Cape Matapan dealt a severe blow to Italian naval confidence and curtailed their willingness to confront the Royal Navy thereafter.
Features: 11 sprues, hull & deck. L: 327.6 mm, W: 34.8 mm, Total parts 410+.
1:350 scale plastic model kit from Trumpeter, requires paint and glue.
