Francesco Caracciolo-class battleship
Right-elevation drawing of the Francesco Caracciolo class
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Class overview | |
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Name | Francesco Caracciolo class |
Operators | Regia Marina |
Preceded by | Andrea Doria class |
Succeeded by | Littorio class |
Built | 1914–1920 |
Planned | 4 |
Cancelled | 4 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Super-dreadnought battleship |
Displacement | 34,000 full load ) |
Length | 212 m (696 ft) (loa) |
Beam | 29.6 m (97 ft 1 in) |
Draft | 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 4 × shafts; 4 × steam turbines |
Speed | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
Range | 8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Armament |
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Armor |
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The Francesco Caracciolo-class battleships were a group of four
The class was never completed due to material shortages and shifting construction priorities after the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Only the lead ship was launched in 1920, and several proposals to convert her into an aircraft carrier were considered, but budgetary problems prevented any work being done. She was sold to an Italian shipping firm for conversion into a merchant ship, but this also proved to be too expensive, and she was broken up for scrap beginning in 1926.
Design
In 1913, Admiral
Characteristics
The Francesco Caracciolo class was 201.6 m (661 ft)
The ships were to be powered by four
Francesco Caracciolo and her sisters were to be armed with a main battery of eight 40-
Armor for the class consisted of
Ships
Ship | Namesake[8] | Builder[9] | Laid down[9]
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Launched[9]
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Fate[9] |
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Francesco Caracciolo | Francesco Caracciolo | Regio Cantiere di Castellammare di Stabia, Naples-Castellammare di Stabia | 16 October 1914 | 12 May 1920 | Cancelled, 2 January 1921 |
Marcantonio Colonna | Marcantonio Colonna | Cantieri navali Odero, Genoa-Sestri Ponente | 3 March 1915 | Never | |
Cristoforo Colombo | Christopher Columbus | Ansaldo, Genoa | 14 March 1915 | ||
Francesco Morosini | Francesco Morosini | Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando, Livorno | 27 June 1915 |
Construction
Shortages of steel slowed the construction of the ships, and after
Work resumed on Francesco Caracciolo in October 1919, but she was not to be completed.
As well as the budgetary problems, the senior Italian navy commanders could not agree on the shape of the post-war Regia Marina. One faction advocated a traditional surface battle fleet, while a second believed a fleet composed of aircraft carriers, torpedo boats, and submarines would be ideal. A third faction, led by Admiral Giovanni Sechi, argued that a balanced fleet with a core of battleships and carriers was the most flexible option.[17] To secure budgetary space for new construction, Sechi drastically reduced the number of older ships in service; he also cancelled the battleships of the Francesco Caracciolo class.[18] Francesco Caracciolo was sold on 25 October 1920 to the Navigazione Generale Italiana shipping company. The firm planned to convert her into a merchant ship, but the work was deemed too expensive, and so she was temporarily mothballed in Baia Bay outside Naples.[3][19]
By this time, the Regia Marina had returned to the idea of converting the ship into an aircraft carrier. In the ongoing negotiations at the Washington Naval Conference, the proposed tonnage limit for the Regia Marina was to be 61,000 metric tons (60,000 long tons), which was now to include a converted Francesco Caracciolo and two new, purpose-built ships. A new conversion design, featuring an island superstructure, was prepared for Francesco Caracciolo but Italy's chronic budgetary problems prevented the navy building any of these ships.[20] Francesco Caracciolo was subsequently broken up for scrap,[3] starting in late 1926.[21] The other three ships had been dismantled shortly after the war,[3] with some of the machinery from Cristoforo Columbo used in the construction of the ocean liner Roma.[22]
Notes
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara, p. 62
- ^ Sandler, p. 102
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Fraccaroli, p. 260
- ^ Friedman, p. 231
- ^ a b Friedman, p. 240
- ^ Ordovini, Petronio; et al., p. 327
- ^ Friedman, p. 241
- ^ Silverstone, pp. 297–298, 301
- ^ a b c d Ordovini, Petronio; et al., p. 310
- ^ Sandler, p. 99
- ^ Fraccaroli, p. 287
- ^ Fraccaroli, p. 288
- ^ Romanych & Heuer, p. 24
- ^ Clerici, Robbins & Flocchini, pp. 152, 154–156
- ^ a b Cernuschi & O'Hara, p. 63
- ^ Zabecki, p. 859
- ^ Goldstein & Maurer, p. 225
- ^ Goldstein & Maurer, p. 226
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara, p. 64
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara, pp. 64–65
- ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara, p. 67
- ^ Ordovini, Petronio; et al., p. 332
References
- Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent P. (2007). "Search for a Flattop: The Italian Navy and the Aircraft Carrier 1907–2007". In Preston, Antony (ed.). Warship. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 61–80. ISBN 978-1-84486-041-8.
- Clerici, Carlo; Robbins, Charles B. & Flocchini, Alfredo (1999). "The 15" (381mm)/40 Guns of the Francesco Caracciolo Class Battleships". Warship International. 36 (2). International Naval Research Organization: 151–157. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
- ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Goldstein, Erik & Maurer, John H. (1994). The Washington Conference, 1921–22: Naval Rivalry, East Asian Stability and the Road to Pearl Harbor. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-4559-1.
- Ordovini, Aldo F.; Petronio, Fulvio; et al. (2017). "Capital Ships of the Royal Italian Navy, 1860–1918: Part 4: Dreadnought Battleships". Warship International. LIV (4): 307–343. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Romanych, Marc & Heuer, Greg (2017). Railway Guns of World War I. London: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1639-9.
- Sandler, Stanley (2004). Battleships: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-85109-410-5.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
- Zabecki, David T. (1999). World War II in Europe. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8240-7029-1.
External links
- Francesco Caracciolo Marina Militare website