Italian battleship Littorio

Littorio and her sister were designed in response to the French s. Littorio was long overall, had a beam of and a draft of . She was designed with a standard displacement of , a violation of the restriction of the Washington Naval Treaty; at full combat loading, she displaced . The ship was powered by four Belluzo geared steam turbines rated at . Steam was provided by eight oil-fired Yarrow boilers. The engines provided a top speed of and a range of at . Littorio had a crew of 1,830 to 1,950 over the course of her career. Littorios main armament consisted of nine 50-caliber Model 1934 guns in three triple turrets; two turrets were placed forward in a superfiring arrangement and the third was located aft. Her secondary anti-surface armament consisted of twelve /55 Model 1934/35 guns in four triple turrets placed at the corners of the superstructure. These were supplemented by four /40 Model 1891/92 guns in single mounts; these guns were old weapons and were primarily intended to fire star shells. Littorio was equipped with an anti-aircraft battery that comprised twelve Cannone da 90/53#Naval version| /50 Model 1938 guns in single mounts, twenty /54 /54 guns in eight twin and four single mounts, and sixteen Breda Model 35| /65 guns in eight twin mounts. A further twelve 20 mm guns in twin mounts were installed in 1942. She received an EC 3 bis radar set in August 1941, an updated version in April 1942—which proved to be unsuccessful in service—and finally the EC 3 ter model in September 1942. The ship was protected by a main armor belt that was thick with a second layer of steel that was thick. The main deck was thick in the central area of the ship and reduced to in less critical areas. The main battery turrets were thick and the lower turret structure was housed in barbettes that were also 350 mm thick. The secondary turrets had 280 mm thick faces and the conning tower had thick sides. ==Service history==

Littorio was laid down at the Ansaldo shipyards in Genoa on 28 October 1934 to commemorate the Fascist Party's March on Rome in 1922. Her sister Vittorio Veneto was laid down the same day. Changes to the design and a lack of armor plating led to delays in the building schedule, causing a three-month slip in the launch date from the original plan of May 1937. Littorio was launched on 22 August 1937, during a ceremony attended by many Italian dignitaries. She was sponsored by Signora Teresa Ballerino Cabella, the wife on an Ansaldo employee. After her launch, the fitting out period lasted until early 1940. During this time, Littorios bow was modified to lessen vibration and reduce wetness over the bow. Littorio ran a series of sea trials over a period of two months between 23 October 1939 and 21 December 1939. She was commissioned on 6 May 1940, and after running additional trials that month, she transferred to Taranto where she—along with Vittorio Veneto—joined the 9th Division under the command of Rear Admiral Carlo Bergamini. On 31 August – 2 September 1940, Littorio sortied as part of an Italian force of five battleships, ten cruisers, and thirty-four destroyers to intercept British naval forces taking part in Operation Hats and Convoy MB.3, but contact was not made with either group due to poor reconnaissance and no action occurred. A similar outcome resulted from the movement against British Operation "MB.5" on 29 September - 1 October; Littorio, four other battleships, eleven cruisers, and twenty-three destroyers had attempted to intercept the convoy carrying troops to Malta. Attack on Taranto On the night of 10–11 November, the British Mediterranean Fleet launched an air raid on the harbor in Taranto. Twenty-one Swordfish torpedo bombers launched from the aircraft carrier attacked the Italian fleet in two waves. The planes scored three hits on Littorio, one hit on , and one on . Of the torpedoes that struck Littorio, two hit in the bow and one struck the stern; the stern hit destroyed the rudder and shock from the explosion damaged the ship's steering gear. The two forward hits caused major flooding and led her to settle by the bows, with her decks awash up to her main battery turrets. She could not be brought into dock until 11 December due to a fourth, unexploded torpedo discovered under her keel; removing the torpedo proved to be a painstaking task, as any shift in the magnetic field around the torpedo might detonate its magnetic detonator. Repairs lasted until 11 March 1941. Convoy operations After repairs were completed, Littorio participated in an unsuccessful sortie to intercept British forces on 22–25 August. A month later, she led the attack on the Allied convoy in Operation Halberd on 27 September 1941. On 13 December, she participated in another sweep to catch a convoy to Malta, but the attempt was broken off after Vittorio Veneto was torpedoed by a British submarine. Three days later, she steamed out to escort Operation M42, a supply convoy to Italian and German forces in North Africa. On 3 January 1942, Littorio was again tasked with convoy escort, in support of Operation M43; she was back in port by 6 January. On 22 March, she participated in the Second Battle of Sirte, as the flagship for an Italian force attempting to destroy a British convoy bound for Malta. As the destroyers withdrew, one of them hit Littorio with a single shell, which caused minor damage to the ship's fantail. During the battle, Littorio hit and seriously damaged the destroyers and . She also hit the cruiser but did not inflict significant damage. Kingston limped to Malta for repairs, where she was later destroyed during an airstrike while in drydock. Muzzle blast from Littorios rear turret set one of her floatplanes on fire, though no serious damage to the ship resulted. Three months later, on 14 June, Littorio participated in the interception of the Operation Vigorous convoy to Malta from Alexandria. Littorio, Vittorio Veneto, four cruisers and twelve destroyers were sent to attack the convoy. The British quickly located the approaching Italian fleet and launched several night air strikes in an attempt to prevent them from reaching the convoy, though the aircraft scored no hits. While searching for the convoy the next day, Littorio was hit by a bomb dropped by a B-24 Liberator; the bomb hit the roof of turret no. 1 but caused negligible damage to the rangefinder hood and barbette, along with splinter damage to the deck. The turret nevertheless remained serviceable and Littorio remained with the fleet. The threat from Littorio and Vittorio Veneto forced the British convoy to abort the mission. At 14:00, the Italians broke off the chase and returned to port; shortly before midnight that evening, Littorio was struck by a torpedo dropped by a British Wellington bomber, causing some of water to flood the ship's bow. Her crew counter-flooded of water to correct the list. The ship was able to return to port for repairs, that lasted until 27 August. She remained in Taranto until 12 December, when the fleet was moved to La Spezia. Only enough fuel was available for Littorio, Vittorio Veneto and their recently commissioned sister , but even then the fuel was only enough for emergencies. On 19 June 1943, an American bombing raid targeted the harbor at La Spezia and hit Littorio with three bombs. She was renamed Italia on 30 July after the government of Benito Mussolini fell from power. On 3 September, Italy signed an armistice with the Allies, ending her active participation in World War II. Six days later, Italia and the rest of the Italian fleet sailed for Malta, where they would be interned for the remainder of the war. While en route, the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) attacked the Italian fleet using Dornier Do 217s armed with Fritz X radio-controlled bombs. One Fritz X hit Italia just forward of turret no. 1; it passed through the ship and exited the hull, exploding in the water beneath and causing serious damage. Roma was meanwhile sunk in the attack. ==Footnotes==