Littorio class
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
_crowned.svg){kind=small}
The Littorio- class was a battleship class in the Italian Navy during World War II . She was the last battleship class to be built in Italy and was one of the most powerful battleships of her time. The class consisted of four units built from 1934 to 1942 at Ansaldo in Genoa and CRDA in Trieste .
units
- Littorio (Bj. 1934-1940, lead ship, from July 30, 1943 Italia , 1948 scrapped )
- Vittorio Veneto (built 1934–1940, broken up in 1948)
- Roma (born 1938–1942, sunk by the German Air Force northwest of Sardiniaon September 9, 1943)
- Impero (built from 1938, never completed, broken up in 1947)
history
The ships were among the first so-called "35,000-ton battleships". However, this tonnage limit, set at the Washington Naval Conference in 1922, was exceeded by almost all naval powers, first secretly and then openly.
The ships of the Littorio class were among the most modern battleships of their time, characterized by a harmonious combination of propulsion power, armor, armament and speed. The two units of the "first series", Littorio ( type ship ) and Vittorio Veneto , were built from 1934 and delivered in 1940 after six years of construction.
Together with the battleships of the Caio Duilio and Conte di Cavour classes, these two ships took part in almost all naval battles between the Italian and British navies in the Mediterranean ( sea battle at Cape Teulada , battle at Cape Matapan , first sea battle in Gulf of Syrte , Second Sea Battle in the Gulf of Syrte , Operations Vigorous and Harpoon ). The naval battle of June 1942 (Operations Vigorous and Harpoon) marked the last participation of the Italian battle fleet in major combat operations. Due to a lack of fuel, the Italian battleships remained in the ports.
The third ship of the class and the first of the "second series", the Impero , was launched in 1939, but no longer completed. The fourth battleship, the Roma , which was only completed in 1942 and had not yet been used in any major battle, was sunk on September 9, 1943. After the armistice of September 8, 1943, the Italian battle fleet left the port of La Spezia to face the Allies in Malta in accordance with the armistice agreement. The German Air Force attacked the Italian fleet northwest of Sardinia with new heavy, remote-controlled Fritz X bombs and sank the Roma . Admiral Carlo Bergamini and almost all of the ship's crew members died in the attack .
After the war, the two remaining ships were awarded as reparations to the United States and Great Britain , which ultimately waived. The Italian Navy kept the ships in service until June 1948, after which they were scrapped.
Technical specifications
The following technical data refer to the first two ships Littorio and Vittorio Veneto . The two ships of the second construction lot displaced about 1000 tons more.
Main dimensions
- Overall length: 237.8 m
- Width overall: 32.9 m
- Draft: 10.5 m
-
Displacement :
- Normal: 41,377 ts
- Maximum: 45,752 ts
Propulsion system
- 8 oil-fired Yarrow steam boilers ,
- 140,000 WPS
- 4 Belluzzo steam turbines with single gear
- 4 three-winged screws, 2 oars in a row
- Top speed: 30 kn
- Range: 3920 nm at 20 kn
Armor
- Vertical: 350 mm
- Horizontal: 207 mm
- Artillery: 350 mm
- Superstructures: 260 mm
Crew and armament
- Crew: 1920 men
- 9 × 381 mm L / 50 Sk in 3 triple towers
- 12 × 152 mm L / 55 Sk in 4 triplet towers
- 4 × 120 mm L / 40 Sk (for light ammunition)
- 12 × 90 mm L / 55 flak in single towers
- 20 × 37 mm L / 54 flak
- 30 × 20 mm L / 65 flak
- 3 aircraft / 1 catapult without hangar
See also
literature
- Bernard Ireland, Tony Gibbons: Jane's Twentieth Century Warships . Ed .: Jane's Information Group . Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-86047-592-4 .
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Roma was only completed after the "Vigorous" and "Harpoon" operations.