Forte Casa Ratti

Battery deck of Forte Casa Ratti

The Italian tank factory Forte Casa Ratti (also Cà Ratti, Casaratti, Ratti or Barcarola - called Ratzenhaus by the Austrians) is a former fort on state road 350 (Folgaria – Arsiero) in the province of Vicenza on a slope above the village of Barcarola.

It belonged to the III. Asiago sector of the Sbarramento Agno - Assa (Agno-Assa lock).

task

The fort was supposed to prevent a possible breakthrough by Austrian troops from the height of the seven municipalities (Altopiano dei Sette Comuni) through the Asticotal to the south ( Padua / Venice ).

The construction work began in 1906. The completion could not be clarified exactly by the Austrian records office . According to a report dated October 1, 1911, the work was complete except for a machine gun stand and an observation tank. In May 1912 the guns were tormented over a distance of seven kilometers (shot in with excessive charge).

description

The main armor consisted of three 149 mm "G" cannons in armored domes "System Ispettorato". The ammunition hand-held magazines were located between the gun wells, below these were the combat readiness rooms and the main ammunition magazines. On each wing and in the left throat a mitrailleuse was installed in hidden domes . On the right wing there was an armored observation post that might have allowed use with a machine gun. The front ditch, built in the Contrescarpe, was about four meters wide and just as deep; the width from the edge of the ice to the edge of the Contreescarpe was 18.20 meters. At the left end there is a trench , which is connected to the battery block by a postern . The throat ditch was about six meters wide and three to four meters deep. In the throat there was an extension leaning against the battery block with only a weatherproof cover.
Another throat trench ran 50 meters backwards parallel to the gun line, in the middle of which there was a throat case with three rifle slots on each side.

In the right throat was the barracks , which could be occupied by about 120 men. The storm safety in the right flank should be guaranteed by a 30 meter high rock fall against the Val d'Astico and the effect of the gun emplacements on the Torre Alta.

The main direction of fire was north.

Battery pack with throat from Casa Ratti after the 1916 conquest

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengthen

The strength of the fort lay in the extraordinarily large freedom from storms, which was ensured by the terrain on the right flank and the front ditch that had to be completely swept.

weaknesses

the weaknesses far outweighed the strengths since

• the main armor consisted of low-performance 149 mm G cannons (G stands for "ghisa" - cast iron),
• the exposed location allowed a considerable increase in the number of siege artillery ,
• the throat was poorly constructed,
• the insufficiently constructed ceiling of the lower floor of the battery block, which was pulled forward, offered sufficient protection against steep fire only from the front,
• the high retaining wall on the mountain side, which, if brought down by fire, might have buried the front ditch flanking system and also one of the two machine gun stands on the mountain side . This would have canceled the storm clearance.

Until the offensive of the Austro-Hungarian troops in May 1916, the fort had not fired a shot because it was too far from the front. Then on May 17, 1916, the kuk 38 cm battery BHL 17 , unofficially called Battery Barbara, began bombarding Casa Ratti. The battery belonged to Colonel Padiaur's ranged combat group and was located on the Cost'alta, about 1,000 meters higher and 12.5 kilometers away.

May 17: Destructive fire from 7:30 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. by 20 grenades with delay detonators

May 19: from 7:25 am fire against Barcarola together with battery KHL / 15 No. 1 (42 cm)

May 21: from 6.45 a.m. to 7.45 a.m., three grenades disrupted Casaratti

May 24th: 4:30 a.m., two shots

May 25: 4:20 p.m.? Destructive fire six rounds

The result of the bombardment was not very effective. Only one hit was on the battery block (no penetration), otherwise it was scattered on the glacis and in the area.

occupation

On May 26th, the evacuated and completely intact fort was occupied by Austro-Hungarian troops and a total of six (or even only five?) Artillerymen from the former factory crew were captured.

Lieutenant Albin Mlaker, the hero of Casa Ratti

Who first entered the fort could never be fully determined; for the then this claimed Lt. Albin Mlaker (sometimes also: Mlakar ; 1890-1946; 1944 Major the Slovenian National Army ) from the 1st Company of. sapper 14, and a patrol of InfRgt 50 under the then Cadet Cisteanu. Ultimately, the merit was awarded to Lieutenant Mlaker. Due to his performance, Mlaker was immediately promoted to lieutenant and received the Knight's Cross of the Leopold Order .

Until the retreat of the Austro-Hungarian troops on the new line of resistance after the end of the offensive, the fort fired on the Italian positions.

Demolition

Plan Forte Casa Ratti

Since the facility came to rest in front of the new front line after the Austro-Hungarian retreat and they did not want to leave it to the Italians, Lieutenant Mlaker prepared it for demolition on June 26, 1916. Text of the message XX. Corps command:

"Casa Ratti plant: completely laid in ruins with 8000 kg of powder and 200 kg of ecrasite . Armored domes, mounts , machine-gun turrets and armored observation post thrown 500–600 paces. "

However, this information was not correct. Only the battery block and the two mitrailleuse stands at the side had been blown up. Destruction of the fort was certainly caused by later artillery fire and also when the steel parts were removed in the post-war period.

The plant is now heavily overgrown, but large parts of it can still be walked on.

Web links

Commons : Forte Casa Ratti  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

• (Albin Mlaker):  The heroic deed of Lieutenant Mlaker. His official report about the capture of the Casa Ratti tank factory. In:  Fremd-Blatt with military supplement Die Vedette , morning edition, No. 152/1916 (LXX. Year), June 2, 1916, p. 2 f. (Online at ANNO ). .
• Ecomuseo Grande Guerra Prealpi Vicentine (ed.): Maso, Enna, Campomolon, Casa Ratti. Forti dello sbarramento Agno-Astico-Posina. Marcolin, Schio, 2014.
• Robert Striffler: From Fort Maso to Porta Manazzo: History of the construction and war of the Italian forts and batteries 1883-1916. Book Service South Tyrol E. Kienesberger, Nuremberg 2004, ISBN 978-3-923995-24-0 .
• Ministero della Guerra - Comando del Corpo di Stato Maggiore - Ufficio Storico (ed.) L'Esercito Italiano nella Grande Guerra (1915–1918) - Volume I – III. Roma 1929–1937.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Klemen Lužar (Text Post): Albin Mlaker. (English) In: austro-hungarian-army.co.uk , accessed October 22, 2015.
2. ↑ Successes before Arsiero and Beats. Taken the tank factory “Casa Ratti” and the Monte Moschicce. (...). In:  Grazer Tagblatt , Second Morning Edition, No. 147/1916 (XXVI. Volume), May 28, 1916, p. 1. (Online at ANNO ). .
3. ↑ award Lieutenant Mlaker. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Afternoon Gazette, No. 18602/1916, June 5, 1916, p. 6 middle. (Online at ANNO ). .

Coordinates: 45 ° 50 ′ 7 ″  N , 11 ° 22 ′ 4 ″  E