None of the Norwegian or Belgian Ca.212s were delivered before the
German invasions of Norway and
Belgium, with the Ca.312s being used by the
Regia Aeronautica as transports and liaison aircraft. France only received five of its Ca.313s before the
Italian declaration of War with France on 10 June 1940 stopped deliveries. At least one of the five aircraft remained in use by Vichy France in late 1942. Undelivered aircraft from the French order were incorporated into orders for Sweden and Italy. In April 1940, Italian sales of military material, including the Capronis, was suspended by the Italian government, but Caproni made a secret agreement with Britain to supply the aircraft via a Portuguese intermediary, but the Italian declaration of war stopped the deal for good. The aircraft served mainly with Italy, in the light
transport,
trainer and
maritime reconnaissance roles. Swedish Air Force designations were B 16, S 16, T 16, and Tp 16. In the late 1930s, Sweden had an urgent requirement to build up its airforce, with one of the required types a twin engined bomber to act as an interim replacement for the obsolete
Junkers Ju 86 (built by Sweden as the B 3) while the
Saab 18 could be developed. The outbreak of
war greatly hindered attempts to buy an aircraft to meet this requirement, with an order for 16
Bréguet 694s being cancelled at the start of the war, and an attempt to buy
Dornier Do 215s from Germany also failing. With other opportunities closed off, Sweden agreed to purchase the Caproni Ca.313, with a contract for 54 aircraft being placed on 20 August 1940, with subsequent orders increased the total brought to 84 aircraft, at a cost of more than 39,900,000
Swedish kronor. Orders were also placed for the
Fiat CR.42 and
Reggiane Re.2000 fighters over the same period. The aircraft were ferried to Sweden between 1940 and 1941. Between 1940 and 1943, there were 23 fatal accidents at the three air force bases (
F 3,
F 7 and
F 11) that operated them. Three more were shot down by
German fighters, on 18 and 23 May 1944. 41 crewmen died in these 'flying coffins'. The Ca.313 suffered many engine fires; this situation was not helped by the special fuel called Bentol, containing alcohol, that was used due to fuel shortage in Sweden because of the war. This fuel often dissolved the coating of the floats made of cork and also corroded the fuel tanks, causing leaks which would result in the fuel spilling onto the hot engines. Other accidents occurred when the aircraft was used in a role for which it was not suited, such as
dive bombing. For example, on 10 June 1942, one aircraft crashed following a wing failure. Many parts were not made to the correct standard. When it was realized that Sweden did not have the same accident problem, a modification programme was introduced and the rate of accidents dropped. For many years this machine, with its ten-hour endurance, was the only one capable of patrolling around Sweden. By all standards, it was obsolete by 1940. It was removed from service soon after the end of the war. The
Luftwaffe eventually ordered 905 machines called the
CA.313G to be used for training purposes and other secondary employment, but only 117 planes were delivered. They had a different nose from the standard model. Two series of Ca.313 had this nose difference and were called '
Ca.313 R.P.B.1 and
2. In 1942, Croatia received ten Caproni Ca 311M bombers which had been ordered and paid for by the former Royal Yugoslav government. ==Variants==