Francesco Caracciolo-class battleship

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Francesco Caracciolo class
Right-elevation drawing of the Francesco Caracciolo class
Class overview
NameFrancesco Caracciolo class
Operators Regia Marina
Preceded byAndrea Doria class
Succeeded byLittorio class
Built1914–1920
Planned4
Cancelled4
General characteristics
Type
Super-dreadnought battleship
Displacement34,000 
full load
)
Length212 m (696 ft) (loa)
Beam29.6 m (97 ft 1 in)
Draft9.5 m (31 ft 2 in)
Installed power
Propulsion4 × shafts; 4 × steam turbines
Speed28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Armament
Armor

The Francesco Caracciolo-class battleships were a group of four

laid down in late 1914; the other three ships, Cristoforo Colombo, Marcantonio Colonna, and Francesco Morosini followed in 1915. Armed with a main battery of eight 381 mm (15 in) guns and possessing a top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph), the four ships were intended to be the equivalent of the fast battleships like the British Queen Elizabeth class
.

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

super-dreadnought battleship designed by the Regia Marina.[2] They were intended to match the new fast battleships being built in foreign navies, such as the British Queen Elizabeth class. Rear Admiral Edgardo Ferrati was responsible for preparing the designs. Ferrati originally called for a ship armed with twelve 381-millimeter guns and twenty 152-millimeter (6 in) secondary guns, but by the time he had finalized the design, he had reduced the main battery to eight guns and the secondary battery to twelve guns.[3]

Characteristics

Line-drawing of the Francesco Caracciolo class; note incorrect aspects such as the single mast and ram bow

The Francesco Caracciolo class was 201.6 m (661 ft)

full load. They were to be equipped with two tripod masts.[3]

The ships were to be powered by four

kW), which was intended to provide a top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph). At a more economical speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), the ships were estimated to have a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi).[3]

Francesco Caracciolo and her sisters were to be armed with a main battery of eight 40-

Anti-aircraft (AA) defense was to be provided by eight 45-caliber Cannone da 102/45 (4 in) guns and a dozen 40-millimeter (1.6 in) guns.[6] The 102 mm guns fired a 13.75-kilogram (30.3 lb) shell at a muzzle velocity of 850 meters per second (2,800 ft/s).[7] As was typical for capital ships of the period, the ships of the Francesco Caracciolo class were to be armed with eight torpedo tubes, either 450 mm (17.7 in) or 533 mm (21 in) in diameter.[3]

Armor for the class consisted of

Krupp cemented steel manufactured by Terni. The main belt armor was 303 mm (11.9 in) thick; horizontal protection consisted of a 50 mm (2 in) thick deck. The main conning tower had 400 mm (16 in) thick sides. The same level of protection was applied to the main battery turrets, while the secondary guns had 220 mm (8.7 in) of armor protection.[3]

Ships

Construction data
Ship Namesake[8] Builder[9]
Laid down[9]
Launched[9]
Fate[9]
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

launched
at the Royal Naval Yard, Castellamare di Stabia, on 12 May 1920. She was the only member of her class to be launched, but she was not completed.

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.

Italian pacification campaigns in Libya forced severe reductions in the naval budget.[16] As a result, a modern carrier conversion could not be completed. The Ansaldo shipyard proposed converting Francesco Caracciolo into a floatplane carrier, a cheaper alternative. It was nevertheless still too expensive for the Regia Marina.[15]

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

  1. ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara, p. 62
  2. ^ Sandler, p. 102
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Fraccaroli, p. 260
  4. ^ Friedman, p. 231
  5. ^ a b Friedman, p. 240
  6. ^ Ordovini, Petronio; et al., p. 327
  7. ^ Friedman, p. 241
  8. ^ Silverstone, pp. 297–298, 301
  9. ^ a b c d Ordovini, Petronio; et al., p. 310
  10. ^ Sandler, p. 99
  11. ^ Fraccaroli, p. 287
  12. ^ Fraccaroli, p. 288
  13. ^ Romanych & Heuer, p. 24
  14. ^ Clerici, Robbins & Flocchini, pp. 152, 154–156
  15. ^ a b Cernuschi & O'Hara, p. 63
  16. ^ Zabecki, p. 859
  17. ^ Goldstein & Maurer, p. 225
  18. ^ Goldstein & Maurer, p. 226
  19. ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara, p. 64
  20. ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara, pp. 64–65
  21. ^ Cernuschi & O'Hara, p. 67
  22. ^ Ordovini, Petronio; et al., p. 332

References

External links