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History
Italy
Name	Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta
Namesake	Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta
Builder	O.T.O.,Livorno
Laid down	29 October 1932
Launched	22 April 1934
Commissioned	13 July 1935
Fate	Ceded to the Soviet Union aswar reparation, March 1949
Soviet Union
Name	Kerch
Acquired	2 March 1949
Commissioned	30 March 1949[1]
Stricken	20 February 1959
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Class & type	Condottieri-classcruiser
Displacement	8,450 t (8,317 long tons) standard 10,539 t (10,373 long tons) full load
Length	186.9 m (613 ft 2 in)
Beam	17.5 m (57 ft 5 in)
Draught	6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	2 shaft Belluzzo/Parsons geared turbines 6 Yarrow boilers 110,000 hp (82,027 kW)
Speed	36.5knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph)
Range	3,900 nmi (7,200 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	578
Armament	8 ×152 mm (6 in)/53 OTO Model 1929 naval guns (4×2) 6 ×100 mm (4 in)/47 OTO Model 1928 naval guns (3×2) 8 ×37 mm (1.5 in)/54 Breda Model 1932 AA cannons (4×2) 12 ×13.2 mm (0.52 in)/76 Breda Model 1931 AA machine guns (6×2) 6 ×21 in (533 mm)torpedo tubes (2×3)
Armour	Deck: 35 mm (1.4 in) Main belt: 70 mm (2.8 in) Turrets: 90 mm (3.5 in) Conning tower: 100 mm (3.9 in)
Aircraft carried	2 or 3Ro.43floatplanes
Aviation facilities	1catapult

Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta was an Italianlight cruiser of the fourth group of theCondottieri-class, that served in theRegia Marina duringWorld War II. She survived the war, but was ceded aswar reparation to theSoviet Navy in 1949. She was finally renamedKerch and served in theBlack Sea Fleet until the 1960s.

Duca d'Aosta was the namesake of the fourth subclass of Condottieri light cruisers. The design of theDuca d'Aostas derived from the precedingMontecuccoli class, with a slight increase in size and a significant increase in armour. The machinery was also re-arranged.

Duca d'Aosta was built by OTO,Livorno and was named afterEmanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta, an ItalianField Marshal ofWorld War I.

The ship joined the 7th Cruiser Division.Ducad'Aosta took part actively of the Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War, when the cruiser shelled the port ofValencia on 15 February 1937.^[2] In 1938 departed on acircumnavigation with her sister-ship,Eugenio Di Savoia. The deteriorating world political situation caused this to be cut short after visits to the Caribbean and South America, and the ships returnedLa Spezia in March 1939.

At the Italian entry into the war,Duca d'Aosta was part of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron and participated in theBattle of Punta Stilo between 6–10 July. In addition, she protected North Africa convoys, took part in a fleet sortie against British cruisers and bombardedCorfu on 18 December.

During 1941,Duca d'Aosta served mostly with the 8th Cruiser Division, laying minefields off North Africa and protecting convoys. One of the convoy duties, in December, led to theFirst Battle of Sirte, in whichDuca d'Aosta took part.

Her duties in 1942 were much as before, but with aggressive actions against Allied convoys, including the OperationsHarpoon andVigorous, in June, to resupply the British controlled island ofMalta. She sailed in August to intercept the criticalPedestal convoy, but this sortie was abandoned due to poor air cover. On 13 June 1942,Duca d'Aosta survived a torpedo attack by the British submarineHMS Unison, while south ofSardinia with theRaimondo Montecuccoli.^[3]

In 1943,Ducad'Aosta was inactive due to fuel shortages for most of the remainder of the year, but in August, she attempted, unsuccessfully, a bombardment of Allied positions aroundPalermo.

Duca d'Aosta was a "lucky ship" in that she never was damaged in any of the naval actions in which she participated nor was she ever damaged by air attack or submarine attack.^{[citation needed]}

After theItalian Armistice,Duca d'Aosta had a minor refit atTaranto and in October 1943, with the cruisersLuigi di Savoia Duca degli Abruzzi andGiuseppe Garibaldi, she sailed to the South Atlantic, to serve with the Allies on shippingblockade duties, based atFreetown. There were seven patrols between November 1943 and February 1944; she returned to Italy in April and, thereafter, was used only for transport.

Duca d'Aosta was transferred to theSoviet Union on 2 March 1949 and served asKerch in theBlack Sea Fleet. The cruiser became a training ship in February 1956.Kerch was stricken on 20 February 1959 and scrapped.^[1]

• Brescia, Maurizio (2012).Mussolini's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regina Marina 1930–45. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-59114-544-8.
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980).Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Dodson, Aidan & Cant, Serena (2020).Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after Two World Wars. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-5267-4198-1.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1968).Italian Warships of World War II. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan.ISBN 0-7110-0002-6.
• Whitley, M. J. (1995).Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-141-6.

• Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta Marina Militare website(in Italian)

• Duca d'Aosta-class cruisers
• Ships built in Livorno
• 1934 ships
• World War II cruisers of Italy
• Italy–Soviet Union relations
• Duca d'Aosta-class cruisers of the Soviet Navy
• Spanish Civil War ships

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