In october 1942, the office of naval intelligence published a similar document for the yamato, estimating her to be a 35,000 ton ship, armed with nine 16 guns. The arrival of the dunkerque class fast battleships for the french navy in the 1930s prompted the italians to counter with their littorio class, a group of four warships that marked the last battleships to be completed for the italian navy. Compared to thirty years of battleship design before them, the iowa class was a puzzling design. The class was composed of four ships littorio, vittorio veneto, roma, and imperobut only the first three ships of the class were completed. They featured nine sixteen inch guns, and twelve five inch guns along with a slew of antiaircraft armament. Italys last and largest battleships kindle edition by bagnasco, ermingo. Battleship vittorio veneto was one of the three italian littorio class battleships.
Five great features of the littorio class battleships navy general. Littorio class battleship 12400 fq58spxj5 by ebard on shapeways. The latter did not work particularly well on the littorios. The littorio class, also known as the vittorio veneto class, was a class of battleship of the regia marina, the. Littorio, and vittorio veneto survived the war and awarded to the british and americans as war. A detailed look at littorio general game discussion. The littorio class, also known as the vittorio veneto class, was a class of battleship of the regia marina, the italian navy. Italian battleship, littorio battleship, naval history.
Built between 1934 and 1942, they were the most modern battleships used by italy during world war ii. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Italian battleship littorio age of armour warships. The littorioclass is the most powerful battleship ever built in italy. Dynamic ship count and type selection, providing proper access modifiers and setters getters, have separate ship classes for each type if you want, provide utility for each player to enter their placement choices via console etc. Added a few platforms which the kit did not supply but should be there for a 1943 version. When most people think of battleships in action during world war ii certain events come to mind. A subsequent class the francesco caracciolo class was started during the first world war but no ships of the class were completed. Littorio and her sister vittorio veneto were designed in response to the french dunkerqueclass battleships. The five ships of the montana class represented the zenith of. Partly this was done to save on the cost of construction. The three ships of the littorio class were fast and elegant, but also boasted a. The design was considered by the spanish navy, but the outbreak of world war ii interrupted construction plans. Iyour free to use my designs as long as you give me credit for them.
Learn more before you buy, or discover other cool products in ships. These ships also featured a triple bottom and the italian pugliese system of underwater protection. Media in category littorio class battleship the following 5 files are in this category, out of 5 total. Develop in the early 30s, around the same time of the reconstruction of conte di cavour and giulio cesare, as an answer to the dunkerqueclass battlecruisers made by the french. She was designed by general umberto pugliese and engineer francesco mazzullo. Although the dunkerque and richilieuclass battleships were large and powerful vessels, they were a bit smaller overall and certainly shorter than comparable ships in other navies that had. The navy is building a stealth battleship strike force. General scheme of functioning of the pugliese underwater protection system on the littorio class. While reliable, it was fed from 12 round mags that needed to be changed constantly and lowered the firing rate.
They were the most modern battleship used by the italians during the war and the last italian battleships commissioned. Rmn littorio the stunning looking italian littorioclass battleship. The same problem plagued the japanese navys 25mm type 96. Battleship vittorio veneto was one of the three italian littorio class battleships operating in the second world war. The newly formed state navy, the regia marina italiana, you h. The littorio class had a displacement of 44,522 long tons.
This is a very impressive piece of work, one of the best monographs. Warships, naval battles, technology, weapons, navies of all eras, modeling, etc. Photographic analysts also duly identified the heavy cruiser bolzano and the capitani romani class light cruiser caio mario without her bow, which was used to repair her sistership attilio regolo in the. Only the first three ships of the class were completed, however. Are there possibilities for a battleship design like this 1012x1516 for the rn. The littorioclass ships were developed in response to the french dunkerqueclass battleships, and were armed with 381millimeter 15. For its final battleship design italy ignored all treaty restrictions on tonnage, and produced one of europes largest.
The battle of the river plate, the hunt to sink the bismark, the battles around savo island, the battle of the surigao straight and the death ride of the yamato. Littorio became the lead ship of the class which included sisters vittorio veneto, impero and roma. From a triple rudder layout to extensive use of decapping plates, the littorio class battleships of italy were truly unique designs. Regardless, the info we have so far suggest a rather poor performance of the littorio class as gunnery effectiveness. The littorio class by pen and sword books ltd issuu.
She was designed by general umberto pugliese and engineer francesco. Main reference used is the littorio class bible the littorio class italys last and largest battleships 19371948. This ship class was not on my schedule to do this day, but i have decided to do it in honor of a very vocal supporter of the series and the work i do you know who you are when launched the littorios were among the most modern, powerful and balance battleships of their time. The royal italian navy had not completed a battleship design since the andria doria class which were constructed between 1912 and 1915 and modernized given an extensive modernization between 1937 and 1940. Greetings all, today we shall be looking at the italian battleships of the littotio class.
Invented the class littorio ship s chief design officer, umberto pugliese by the system basic element in a water line inside the ship, the main pancelov length running along the steel cylinder whose inner part is empty, while in the enclosing outer cylinder is filled with oil or water. Her and vittorio veneto reached malta on 9943, littorio being damaged by a fritzx radio guided bomb on the way, at which time sister ship roma was sunk with heavy loss of life. Littorio was renamed italia after the fall of fascism on 25 july 1943. If you have spotted any errors on this page or have anything to contribute please post it in this forum. According to many, the italian fleet was the second worst in the war, and because of this, many people regret being able to speak about them, so id like to present one of their most successful battleship. Vittorio veneto iwm italian battleships are among the most attractive capital ships ever built, and the 46,000 ton ships of the littorio class littorio, roma, vittorio veneto, and impero are perhaps the most beautiful of the lot. The treaty of versailles of 1919, stated in its article 181 that the german naval forces in commission could not exceed six battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers and twelve torpedo boats.
With their striking splinter paint schemes, clean lines and distinctively elevated after turret, these ships demand the full treatment. The ships belt armor was designed to defeat 380 mm shells at ranges over 16,000 m 52,000 ft, and was inclined at 11 degrees. She was one of the most modern and powerful battleships of her times. The three ships of the littorio class were typical of italian design, being fast and elegant, but also boasting a revolutionary protective scheme which was tested to the limits, as all three were to be heavily damaged in the hardfought naval war in the mediterranean roma had the unfortunate distinction of being the first capital ship sunk by. The littorio class battleship was the most modern battleship the italy. There were three ships of the class littorio later. It would be probably extremely difficult to compress battleship design, construction, and history, into a few hundred pages. Regia marina littorio class battleship roma trumpeter 1. The list of battleships includes all battleships built between 1859 and 1946, listed alphabetically the boundary between ironclads and the first battleships, the socalled predreadnought battleship, is not obvious, as the characteristics of the predreadnought evolved in the period from 1875 to 1895 as they can be considered as reduced versions of battleships, coastal defence ships. The third ship of the littorio class, roma displaced 42,000 tons, could make 32 knots, and carried nine 15inch guns in three triple turrets. In this educational video i cover the littoriovittorio veneto class battleship commissioned by the regia marina. Despite being the largest and most powerful class of battleship launched by the united states, they were basically 33knot replicas of the south dakota class before them. Littorio lictor, in ancient times, was the bearer of the roman.
Italian battleship, littorio one of italys most modern ww2 battleships, heavily damaged at taranto by fleet air arm attack in 1940. Littorio class battleships allied warships of wwii. Italys world war ii battleships were lovely, but not. The arrival of the dunkerqueclass fast battleships for the french navy in the 1930s prompted the italians to counter with their littorioclass, a group of four warships that marked the last battleships to be completed for the italian navy.
The 20mm gun was an interesting design that fed its spent casings back into its magazines. She is far, far more heavily armed and armoured than a littorio class, has a slight reduction in comparative speed of ten percent on paper and was designed with the best visual rangefinding equipme. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the littorio class. Under the power of their 128,200shp engine, they had a sustainable top speed of 30 knots. Discussion in southeast attack squadron started by pewpewpew, may 14, 2007. What is the purpose of the french dunkerque and richelieu. For its final battleship design italy ignored all treaty restrictions on tonnage, and produced one of europes largest and most powerful capital ships, isbn 9781848321052 buy the the littorio class. Who would win a battle between a yamatoclass battleship. Italian battleship littorio age of armour warships world. They were surprisingly accurate in their estimates of the littprio class in february 1943. All results related to battleship littorioclass found on 80 scale modeling websites and the scalemates kit database. Laid down 28 oct 1934, launched 22 aug 1937, completed 6 may 1940. Super drawings in 3d 62 the italian battleship littoriocarlo cestraisbn 9788365437976 92 pages 166 renders doublesided a2 sheet with modeling plans littorio was one of the three italian littorio class battleships operating during the second world war, belonging to the italian regia marina.
The result was the first postwashington treaty class of genuine fast battleships, the littorio class. In addition, the cost of the reconstruction would be not much less than the cost of building a brand new littorioclass battleship. Most of the time littorio or vv as it is often known is armed with 3 stern guns in the aft turret, 1 unit gun in one of the forward turrets, and a 1. The classs design was considered by the spanish navy, but the outbreak of world war ii interrupted.
The italian littorio class were a set of four battleships built for the italian navy before wwii. Invented the class littorio ship s chief design officer, umberto. Vittorio veneto was the second member of the littorioclass battleship that served in the italian regia marina royal navy during world war ii. Italys world war ii battleships were lovely, but not exactly the best. The three ships of the littorio class were typical of italian design, being fast and elegant, but also boasting a. At the expense of the battleship construction program in a large cruiser and. For its final battleship design italy ignored all treaty restrictions on tonnage, and. The ships keel was laid down in october 1934, launched in july 1937, and readied for service with the italian fleet by august 1940.
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