Aquila nearly completed, Impero 1940-43 The Aquila and Sparviero aircraft carriers were among the well-known unfinished ships of WW2. Both proceeded from ideas developed in 1928-1930 as a faction milited for their development, in the country which invented the concept of strategic bombardment, by General Douhet.The uncompleted 1916 Carraciolo class super-dreadnoughts were broken up due … Read more
Trento, Trieste, Bolzano (1927-32) In 1920, Italy had few modern cruisers. The Washington Treaty set new standards to be followed by all naval forces, notably the heavy cruiser, with an arrangement of 8-in (203 mm) guns for 10,000 tons standard, framed itself in a global tonnage by nation. Italy had the same as France, 175,000, … Read more
Luigi Cadorna, Armando Diaz. The first six ships of the “Condotierri” large group, among which the Luigi Cadorna class, were also the first postwar Italian cruisers to see service. Both classes were different in some points but also shared many similarities, like a 5000+ tons displacement, whereas the following D’Aosta group would almost double that, … Read more
Italy (1916/1937) Battleships Caio Duilio, Andrea Doria Cavour’s sister class: Doria The Andrea Doria class (or Caio Duilio class for Italians sources) was the last dreadnought battleship class of the Regia Marina to see service in WW1, started in 1912 and completed 1916. The Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio were an incremental improvement over the … Read more
4 ships (1930) Giussano, Barbiano, Colleoni, Bande Nere. The famous “Condotierri” cruiser class was an invention from postwar authors, trying to group a serie of light cruisers named after ancient Italian warlords but built for various purposes. The first of these were also the first post-WWI Italian cruisers to see service. Five classes followed one … Read more
Midget Italian Torpedo boats: MT, MTS, MTL The MAS inheritance During the WW1 and WW2 superstars of the “naval dust” deployed by the Regia Marina were the MAS (For Motoscafo armato silurante) or “torpedo armed motorboat”. They gave all satisfaction during the great war in the confines of the Adriatic, but less so during WW2 … Read more
About 113 submersibles The Regia Marina in 1939 had far more submarines than Germany, 116 (107 for other sources) versus 72 (and still more than the IJN, about 70 in 1941), so topping the Axis. This fact must be recalled before going further. Like other navies, the Regia Marina divided these in two classes, oceanic … Read more
Regia Marina – Light Cruisers (1936) Duca degli Abruzzi, Garibaldi The last Condottiere: This class also counting the Guiseppe Garibaldi was built by OTO shipyards in La Spezia, the lead ship being named after Luigi Amedeo, Duke of Abruzzo, Italian explorer and Admiral of the First World War. The Duca degli Abruzzi class cruisers were … Read more
Italy (1916-43) – About 60 ships Overview: WW2 Italian Destroyers were still called cacciatorpediniere, “torpedo boat hunters”, the equivalent of French contre-torpilleur or general torpedo-boat destroyer, later simpified as “destroyer”. Part of these were dating back from WW1, and were reclassified as torpedo-boats due to their range, tonnage and armement, while others, 1918 to 1921 … Read more
Italy (1923) Seaplane Carrier Italy’s ww2 seaplane carrier: De Facto naval rivalry between France and Italy was traduced on an almost ship-to-ship basis: To the Giuseppe Miraglia, first Italian seaplane carrier modified as such in 1923, answered the French Commandant Teste, which was larger and built as a dedicated ship in 1929. The Miraglia was … Read more
