Giulio Cesare was laid down at the Ansaldo Shipyard in Genoa in 1910. The ship underwent a complete modernization process between 1933 and 1935 and received new weapons and enhanced armor. After the end of the war, she was transferred to the USSR and renamed Novorossiysk. On October 29, 1955, a powerful explosion erupted under her hull of the ship. 617 people lost their lives in that tragedy, and the cause of the explosion has yet to be determined.