Littorio-class battleship

Vittorio Veneto class profile.
General characteristics
Displacement:	41,177 tons standard 43,835 tons normal load 45,963 tons full load
Length:	224.5pp - 237.8oa m
Beam:	32.43wl m, 32.9oa m
Draught:	10.44 m at normal load
Propulsion:	8 Yarrow boilers, 4 shafts, 140,000 hp
Speed:	31.50 knots trials 29 knots at normal load
Range:	3,920 miles at 20 knots with 4,000 tons of oil
Complement:	1,920
Armament:	3x3 381 mm/50, 4x3 152 mm/55, 12x1 90 mm/53 (AA), 20x2 37 mm/54, 30x2 20 mm/65,
Aircraft:	3
Protection:	(Vertical) 280 mm main belt inclined at 15° with 70 mm decapping plate outboard Two splinter plates, 36 mm and 24 mm thick inboard of main belt 70 mm thick upper side hull to weather deck 60 mm splinter plates extend from ends of main belt (Horizontal) 36 mm weather deck 150 mm main deck over magazines thins to 100 mm over machinery (Turrets) 350 mm thinning to 280 mm barbettes 350 mm HG turret faces, 200 mm turret roofs 100 mm MCG barbettes 135 mm MCG turret faces

The Littorios (or Vittorio Venetos; the two ships were laid down on the same date) were the most modern battleship class of the Regia Marina, the Italian navy during World War II. The Littorios were developed in response to the French Dunkerque class battlecruisers, with the second pair responding to the Richelieu class battleships. They were part of Benito Mussolini's overall strategy of achieving Italian dominance in the Mediterranean Sea and the creation of a new Roman Empire. The first full-fledged battleships laid down after the expiration of the Washington and London naval treaties, the first two ships were laid down in 1935.

Like all other battleships of this period, their nominal displacement was given as 35,000 tons standard, although they greatly exceeded those figures. This was in common with all post-treaty battleships except the British Nelson class. The first pair of ships were commissioned in late April and early May of 1940. Thus, they were the first completed super-dreadnoughts of the post-Washington era.

Design

The Littorio class's design was notable in several respects. Well-balanced warships, they combined excellent vertical armour, a powerful main battery, and high speed. They were strikingly graceful ships, with a tall but balanced superstructure, twin funnels, and a flush-deck design with a lower quarterdeck.

Designed by Umberto Pugliese, all four ships incorporated a unique underwater protection system that shares his name. Using flooded hollow tubes, separated by ship inner rooms by a thin armoured wall, the Pugliese system was a revolutionary approach to defense against torpedo attack. However, subsequent experience would reveal the system as inferior to the more common multiple torpedo bulkhead system—the Pugliese system provided an insufficient crush zone to absorb impact energy. The only foreign power to adopt the system was the Soviet Union, in its Sovetsky Soyuz class, designed by Italian firm Ansaldo. The rest of the ships' protective system was conventional, and compared well to its contemporaries.

Having chosen 381 mm (15") over 406 mm (16") main armament as a weight-saving and reliability measure - this caliber was developed during the Great War for the never completed "Caracciolo" battleship class in 381L40 version - the Regia Marina sought to maximize hitting power by adopting three triple turrets, armed with especially long-barreled (50 calibers) naval guns. These provided extraordinary range (42.8 km) and muzzle velocity (870 m/s), but consequently suffered barrel lives just half as long as their counterparts in other navies, and inconsistent shell patterning. This last problem was exacerbated by uneven powder loading and the sheer weight of the shell (885 kg). Also, the main battery could only average 1.3 rounds/gun/minute but this would not have had a great impact on any likely engagement.

In typical Axis practice, the secondary battery was divided between large-caliber anti-ship weapons and smaller high-angle anti-aircraft weapons. This contrasted sharply to British and American practice of a single dual-purpose secondary battery, which eased fire control coordination and improved anti-aircraft hitting power. The presence of the larger-calibre guns was mainly to combat the contre-torpilleurs (large destroyers) built by France in the inter-war period. The secondary anti-ship battery (also in triple turrets) used the 152 mm/55 gun, with a fantastic 925 m/s muzzle velocity and effective range of 25.7 km with a 49.5 kg shell, 4.5 shots per minute. Anti aircraft battery was based upon the 90/53 gun, with a maximum elevation of 75°, a muzzle velocity of 900 m/s, a 16 km range with an 18 kg shell, 18 rounds per minute. Finally, four 120 mm/40 guns were carried for firing starshells.

The Vittorio Veneto's were among the fastest of European battleships; the rather short range was acceptable to the Italian Navy in light of the confined waters of the Mediterranean.

Ships in class

The Vittorio Veneto class consisted of four vessels:

• Vittorio Veneto – At the end of the war it had to be given to United Kingdom but it did eventually stay in Italy where it was scrapped in the 1950s. The brass letters of her name were taken from her stern and are now on display in the Naval Museum of Venice.
• Littorio – sunk in shallow water by three torpedoes in the Battle of Taranto, later raised, then renamed Italia after the Italian surrender. At the end of the war it had to to be given to United Kingdom but it did eventually stay in Italy where it was scrapped in the 1950s.
• Roma – entered in service in late 1942, was sunk by German FX 1400 (Fritz-X) anti-ship missiles after Italy signed the armistice with the Allies, becoming the first major warship to be sunk by guided missiles.
• Impero – never completed, scrapped after the war.
• Two additional ships of the class were contemplated in 1936, but Italy's general industrial situation (and the coming of war) prevented these plans from being carried out. As an interim measure, the chief of staff, Admiral Cavagnari, chose to modernize the battleships Caio Dulio and Andrea Doria.

The Vittorio Veneto class in foreign service

The Vittorio Veneto and Italia (ex-Littorio) were handed over to the Allies at the conclusion of Italy's involvement in World War II, but were not kept in service for long. Both were scrapped by the start of the 1950s

Spain's General Franco briefly considered a naval building programme (in a bid to build his nation's prestige and influence in European affairs) in the 1930s that would have seen the building of three Vittorio Veneto class battleships to a slightly modified design. These plans were abandoned due to cost and the disintegrating situation in Europe.
The Vittorio Veneto design also had a strong influence on the Soviet Union's Sovetsky Soyuz class battleships, which shared some features with the Italian class. One of the early studies for what became the Sovietsky Soyuz was completed by the Italian firm Ansaldo. Called UP41, it was essentially a slightly enlarged Vittorio Veneto with 406 mm (16") main guns. These ships were never completed due to the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany in 1941.

References

• Battleships and Battle Cruisers, 1905–1970, Siegfried Breyer, Doubleday 1973, hardcover, ISBN 0-385-07247-3
• The Italian Navy and Fascist Expansionism, 1935–1940, Robert Mallett, Frank Cass 1998, hardcover, ISBN 0-7146-4878-7

External links

• Littorio class - Plancia di Comando

• 
  Vittorio Veneto and Littorio (back) in 1940
• 
  Littorio, high speed manoeuvres, summer 1940.
• Roma, 1940, with war camouflage
  Roma, 1940, with war camouflage