the Battle of Calabria in July 1940, torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier attacked the Zara-class cruisers, but they failed to score any hits. The ships steamed ahead to the front of the Italian line of battle and joined the attack on the leading British battleship, , but they scored no hits. British cruisers attacked as the Italians withdrew, but heavy fire from the Italian cruisers drove them off. All four ships escaped damage at the Battle of Taranto in November 1940. In March 1941 at the Battle of Cape Matapan, Pola was immobilized by a torpedo from a Swordfish torpedo bomber launched by the British aircraft carrier ; Zara and Fiume were detached from the rest of the fleet to protect Pola, and all three and a pair of destroyers were sunk in a close-range night engagement with the battleships , , and Warspite. Italian casualties were very heavy, with 783 killed aboard Zara, 328 killed aboard Pola, 812 aboard Fiume. The survivors, mostly from Pola, were rescued primarily by British destroyers, though Greek destroyers and an Italian hospital ship picked up others over the following few days. Gorizia, the sole surviving member of the class, saw action at the First Battle of Sirte in December 1941 and Second Sirte in March 1942, where she was heavily engaged with British light cruisers and destroyers. As the action took place at very long range, neither side scored any hits. During this period, the ship also took part in convoy escort operations to supply Italian and German forces in North Africa. While the ship was moored in La Maddalena on 10 April 1943, a major attack from United States Army Air Forces heavy bombers sank the heavy cruiser and hit Gorizia with three bombs, inflicting serious damage. She was still under repair in La Spezia when Italy surrendered to the Allies in September, and she was seized by German forces when they occupied much of the country. On 22 June 1944, Italian frogmen used Chariot manned torpedoes to enter the harbor and sink Gorizia and the heavy cruiser , which was also out of service due to battle damage, to prevent them from being used as blockships though Gorizia survived the attack. She was nevertheless sold for scrap in 1947, since it would have been cost-prohibitive to repair her. Notes References External links Zara (1930) Marina Militare website Cruiser classes