The Littorio Class

Italy's Last and Largest Battleships 1937-1948

Ermingo Bagnasco, Augusto de Toro

• Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781848321052
• eBook ISBN: 9781473819474
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Italian History
• Index: History

"An important work for anyone interested in warship design, the naval side of World War II in the Mediterranean, or modern Italian history."—New York Military Affairs Symposium
 
For its final battleship design Italy ignored all treaty restrictions on tonnage and produced one of Europe's largest and most powerful capital ships, comparable with Germany's Bismarck class, similarly built in defiance of international agreements. 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 hard-fought naval war in the Mediterranean; Roma had the unfortunate distinction of being the first capital ship sunk by guided missile.
 
These important ships have never been covered in depth in English-language publications, but the need is now satisfied in this comprehensive and convincing study by two of Italy's leading naval historians. The book combines a detailed analysis of the design with an operational history, evaluating how the ships stood up to combat. It is illustrated with an amazing collection of photographs, many fine-line plans, and colored artwork of camouflage schemes, adding up to as complete a monograph on a single class ever published.
 
Among warship enthusiasts, battleships enjoy a unique status. As the great success of Seaforth's recent book on French battleships proves, that interest transcends national boundaries, and this superbly executed study is certain to become another classic in the field.
 
"A very impressive piece of work."— History of War
"An essential book for all naval history enthusiasts."—Firetrench

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Battleships and Italian Naval Policy between the Two World Wars

The Washington Treaty and the Italo-French naval rivalry

The February 1929 naval programme and the battleship question

The 1930 Conference and the Treaty of London

Construction of Dunkerque and the Italian response (1931–1933)

The definitive failure of the Italo-French negotiations and construction of Strasbourg

Construction of Littorio and Vittorio Veneto and reaction abroad

Building Littorio and Vittorio Veneto

The London Conference of 1935–1936 and the end of naval disarmament

Sanctions and naval construction

Reconstruction of the Duilio class ships and plans for 27,000-ton battleships (1935–1937)

From the Littorio to the Impero class and the French response

Chapter 2: Design and General Characteristics

The preliminary design

The working design and the principal additional modifications

Chapter 3: Technical Description

Hull and stability

Superstructures

Protection and safety measures

Propulsion system

Armament and fire control

Steering gear and ground tackle

Communications and warning systems

Other on-board systems

Aircraft arrangements and embarked aircraft

Crew, general organisation aboard, and mess accommodations

Paint schemes and camouflage

Chapter 4: Construction, Sea Trials and Commissioning

The progress of construction

Vittorio Veneto’s sea trials

Littorio’s sea trials

Entry in service of Vittorio Veneto and her transfer to Taranto (28 April – 21 May 1940)

Entry in service of Littorio and her transfer to Taranto (6–24 May 1940)

Construction and fitting-out of Roma

Plates – ship plans and details

Impero (never completed)

Chapter 5: Operational History

From the declaration of war to the transfer of the Naval Squadron to La Spezia, 10 January 1941

From the action against Operation ‘Excess’ to the First Battle of Sirte, January to December 1941

From Operation ‘M 43’ to the transfer of 9th Division to La Spezia, January to December 1942

From December 1942 to the eve of the armistice

Plates – ship plans and details

Colour section and modelling notes

From the armistice until the decommissioning and scrapping of Vittorio Veneto and Roma

Annex 1: Composition of Italian Naval Forces from the entry into service of Littorio and Vittorio Veneto (May 1940) until 8 September 1943

Annex 2: Commanders of Littorio class battleships 1940–1948

Chapter 6: Comparisons and Conclusions

Appendices

Appendix 1: Movements and Changes of Location of the Littorio Class Battleships from Entry into Service until their Loss or Decommissioning

Appendix 2: Damage Sustained by Littorio Class Battleships during the War

Appendix 3: Performance Characteristics of Littorio Class Heavy and Medium Calibre Guns

Sources and Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Index

INTRODUCTION

The Littorio class, the Italian navy’s largest and most powerful battleships, have previously been the subject of only one worthwhile, but short, monograph, and this dates back to the early 1970s (Bargoni, Gay and Andò, see Bibliography). It is true that there have been a great number of articles dealing with these ships, in Italy and abroad, and chapters pertaining to them in general works on battleships or warships of the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy), but these are all brief treatments that add little to overall understanding of the subject.

We were inspired to write a new, comprehensive monograph dedicated to these ships by a number of factors: the unavailability for some time of the previously cited work; the continuing intense interest shown by enthusiasts for the Italian ‘35,000-tonners’, which have become a symbol of the ‘great navy’ of the 1940s and of Italian technological and industrial capabilities of that era; the realisation that the level of research and understanding of the Littorio class had not kept pace with studies of similar battleships in other navies; and finally, the availability of new documents and photographs.

Our intention was, in fact, to produce a work that took into account all of those factors, providing the reader with the most complete and up-to-date picture possible of the genesis, design, building and employment of these ships.

The technical description – supported by an impressive number of images – is followed by a description of their operational activity from the summer of 1940 until the end of the war.

To engage in a complete analysis of the wartime activity (and inactivity) of these ships would have meant writing yet another history of the Italian war at sea during the Second World War, something which, in truth, is neither possible nor useful in this publication. We preferred, instead, on the one hand to concentrate on the more technical aspects, which are less known or less examined, which help to give a better idea of the overall effectiveness and soundness of the Littorio design, while on the other hand highlighting Italian official thinking about the importance of these ships, during the war and for the post-war period – concepts which we should say immediately were very different from the oversimplified and undervalued views of the role of the battleship that became common in post-war historiography.

The analysis of operational activity is rounded out by two appendices: the list of all movements carried out, from commissioning into the Regia Marina to the loss or decommissioning of the three Littorios that entered service, and a list of damage incurred by the same ships due to wartime action. Finally, there is a brief section with modelling notes that represents a new feature in Italian naval monographs, although it is common in publications dealing with aircraft. We entrusted this section to an expert modelmaker, Giancarlo Barbieri, who recently completed a perfect reproduction of the battleship Roma in 1:100 scale, a highly-demanding project that required many years of work on a ‘monster’ that is fully 2.38 metres (7.8 feet) long!

With respect to the numerous drawings that illustrate this volume, all external views and many of the sectional views are the work of Roberto Maggi; other sectional drawings and construction details are either reproductions of original shipyard plans or drawings based on them that come from the important archives of the Associazione Navimodellisti Bolognesi (Naval Modellers Association of Bologna); the colour schemes and camouflage patterns from specific times are thanks to the collaboration of Maurizio Brescia; and, finally, the colour profiles of the shipborne aircraft are by Angelo Brioschi.

Regarding the photographs, the majority have been in our own collections for many years; for others, the source, when known, is shown in the caption. Particular attention was paid to providing as precise a date as possible for each image, by comparing them to many other photos as well as analysis of the movements of the various ships. Photo selection obviously is oriented toward those of the highest quality, but nevertheless in some cases we had to resort to images that were not technically perfect but that were irreplaceable because they referred to a particular time or event.

In concluding this brief introduction, we wish to thank all who provided help and collaboration with advice, memories, documents and illustrations. A specific citation is given for each source, be they organisations or private individuals, at the end of this volume, following the list of archival sources and a select bibliography.

We trust that we have succeeded in what we set out to accomplish: that is, to give a complete history of these ships and of their activities. We leave the final judgement of our work to students and enthusiasts of naval history, who we invite to point out any errors or to contribute suggestions that we might consider for what we hope may soon be a new edition.

E.B. – A. d.T. Milano-Udine, Autumn 2007

Chapter 1

BATTLESHIPS AND ITALIAN NAVAL POLICY
BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS

IItaly came out of the First World War having made significant efforts towards the conduct of the war at sea, especially in the construction of new ships. This construction had concentrated on light flotilla craft (destroyers and escorts), ‘stealth’ units (motor torp...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Inside
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents