Italian Trento Heavy cruiser Country: Italy Type: Heavy cruiser Service: 1929 - 1942 Laid down: 1925 Launched: 1927 Commissioned: 1929 Fate: Sunk 15 June 1942

The Trento class was an Italian heavy cruiser design of the Regia Marina from the interwar period. The three ships of the class sacrificed protection for speed, and were fairly lightly armored for such large ships. It was later concluded that this tradeoff put the ships at a disadvantage. The Trentos were the first ships designed specifically to the limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty. A particular problem faced by the Italian designers was that their ships had to be able to protect the lengthy Italian coastline from widely separated naval bases, meaning that high speed was a key feature. In the end they chose to sacrifice armor and fuel storage, and thus range, in order to attain the required speed and weight while still being armed with the latest 8 inch (200 mm) guns.

Trento was the first of class of the Trento class heavy cruisers deployed by the Italian navy. She was commissioned in 1929. In February 1932 Trento was sent to Tianjin, China, to join the San Marco Battalion as a show of force during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the Spanish Civil War the division carried out escort missions in the western Mediterranean Sea. During World War II, Trento took part in most major Italian operations, including the battles of Calabria, Cape Spartivento, and Cape Matapan. On the morning of 15 June 1942 Trento was sunk after being torpedoed twice.