transferred to Genoa for repair work, since the dockyard in La Spezia had also been damaged by the attack. On 3 September, Italy signed an armistice with the Allies, ending her active participation in World War II. Six days later, Vittorio Veneto and the rest of the Italian fleet sailed for Malta, where they would be taken into internment for the remainder of the war. While en route, the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) attacked the Italian fleet using Dornier Do 217s armed with Fritz X radio-controlled bombs. Vittorio Veneto was undamaged but Littorio—by now renamed Italia—was hit and damaged and her sister was sunk in the attack. Vittorio Veneto remained in Malta until 14 September, when she and Italia were moved to Alexandria, Egypt and then to the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal on 17 October. The two battleships remained there until 6 October 1946, when they were permitted to return to Italy. Vittorio Veneto went to Augusta, Sicily before moving to La Spezia on 14 October. In the Treaty of Peace with Italy, signed on 10 February 1947, Vittorio Veneto was allocated as a war prize to Britain. She was paid off on 3 January 1948, stricken from the naval register on 1 February, and subsequently broken up for scrap. Vittorio Veneto had been the most active Italian battleship of the war, having participated in eleven offensive operations. Twelve 90 mm anti-aircraft guns taken from Vittorio Veneto were reused by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) as armament of its Žirje Island coastal artillery battery. The battery surrendered without resistance to the Croatian National Guard on 14 September 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence, and played a pivotal role in 16–22 September Battle of Šibenik, helping defend the city of Šibenik against the JNA. Footnotes References External links Vittorio Veneto battleships Marina Militare website Littorio-class battleships World War II battleships of Italy 1937 ships Ships built by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico