Post by dorn on Dec 27, 2019 4:52:21 GMT -6
June 1919
Personal log - the 3rd of June 1919
I was thinking about last war and what we need change. It clear now that capital ships can help protect our trade routes in the Mediterranean but with short range it is difficult to project power elsewhere. We should stop building battlecruisers with short range but may be some battleships are acceptable. The speed of 27 knots proved to slow to hunt enemy capital ships and against superior enemy higher speed will be needed.
But at the end key was trade warfare as proved by Rear Admiral kriegsmeister who I promoted yesterday.
Submarine force and cruiser force importance was emphasized in the last war and I will continue with the trend to have best cruisers and reasonable number of submarines in the fleet.
Admiral captainloggy retired once again and I wished him long life but frankly speaking I am not certain he is certainly not in good health after war. Admiral dizzy is taken command of the Mediterranean fleet in peace times and Rear Admiral kriegsmeister has taken command of the first scout force.
Personal log - the 5th of June 1919
I have stopped training, reduce intelligence to cut the costs. But our budget is still 7.6 M negative. So it is time to scrap some old ships.
Submarines
We have 35 submarines and additional 8 under construction. Royal Navy, Austria-Hungary and Germany have 27, 26, 25 submarines and only Austria-Hungary has 4 under construction. France has 12 submarines only but 36 under construction, she will probably become leading power in submarine force. But 20 of total 48 submarines are coastal submarines.
I decided to scrap the oldest submarine Squalo which is already almost 15 years old.
Battleships
We have following battleships:
2x Italia class - 31400 tons, 21 knots, 4x2x16" US avarege guns, 14x5" casemates guns covered by 2" armour, 13" belt armour, 4.5" deck armour, 14" turret armour - probably best battleships in the world but short ranged
1x Taranto class (1915 refit) - 30100 tons, 21 knots, 3x3x15" British Mk1 guns - best in the world, 6x2x5" guns protected by 1" armour, 11.5" belt armour, 3.5" deck armour, 13.5" turret armour
3x Taranto class - 30100 tons, 21 knots, 3x3x380 mm guns of poor Italian production, 20x150 mm casemeted guns protected by 2" armour, 11.5" belt armour, 2.5" deck armour, 13.5" turret armour
Comparison Italian battleships to most modern battleships in the world
Italia class battleships are probably the best in the world and still cheaper to maintenance than Taranto class, heavily refitted Taranto can still stand against almost every battleship in world and unrefitted Taranto class battleships can faced almost any battleships except the most modern designs from UK, USA and Germany.
UK is leading power with number of battleships with 19, USA with 10 and Germany with 9 battleships have mmore battleships than we have however even Russia with 3 battleships has 7 battleships under construction.
It seems that we will need addional battleships not be completely behind. There will be needed some study of possibilities what ships do we need. To save some costs, unrefitted Taranto class will be mothballed and Taranto itself will be transferred into reserve.
Battlecruisers
We have following battlecruisers:
2x Andrea Doria class - 30900 tons, 27 knots, 2x3,1x2x16" Mk1 British guns best in the world, 14x5" gun in unarmoured casemates, 12.5" belt armour, 4.5" deck armour, 14" turret armour - best battlecruisers in the world, powerfull as Italia class
2x Leonardo da Vinci class - 25700 tons, 27 knots, 3x2x381 mm Germany guns - worst in the world, 12x105 mm guns in casemates with 1" armoured shield, 12.5" belt armour, 4" deck armour, 13.5" turret armour
5x Lepanto class - 21000 tons, 25 knots, 2x2x340 mm bad Italian guns, 14x150 mm guns in casemates with 3" armour, 11" belt armour, 2" deck armour, 10" turret armour
2x Francesco Ferruccio class under construction - 33200 tons, 31 knots, 3x2x15" Mk1 British guns, 8x2x5" guns protected by 2" armour, 6x2x4" unarmoured turrets, 13.5" belt armour, 2.5" deck armour, 14.5" turret armour
Till Francesco Ferruccio class will be commissioned Lepanto class is the only battlecruiser with reasonable range and as all nations still operate several armoured cruisers. I decided that 3 ships of Lepanto class (Lepanto, Leonardo, Leopardo) will be scrapped and 2 will be mothballed. Leonardo da Vinci class will be put into reserve and their reconstruction with better British Mk1 model of 16" guns studied.
So we will have 6 battlecruisers (2 obsolote) and 2 under construction. We are completely behind as only France with 5 battlecruisers has less. We will certainly need new construction, may be even more importantly than battleships.
Comparison Italian battlecruisers with most modern battlecruisers in the world
Light/heavy cruisers
We have following light cruisers and heavy cruisers:
1x Quatro class (trade warfare cruiser) - 5500 tons, long range, 28 knots, 6x152 mm excellent Italian guns protected by 2" armoured shield, 3" belt armour, 1" deck armour
2x Nino Bixio class (trade warfare cruiser) - 5500 tons, long range, 27 knots, 7x152 mm (6 guns broadside) excellent Italian guns protected by 2" armoured shield, 6x100 mm unarmoured guns, 3" belt armour, 1" deck armour
1x Padua class (scout cruiser) - 3700 tons, short range, 28 knots, 8x150 mm (6 guns broadside) average Germany guns protected by 2" armoured shield, 3" belt armour, 1" deck armour
5x Milano class (general purpose cruiser) - 6300 tons, medium range, 28 knots, 8x152 mm (6 guns broadside) excellent Italian turreted guns protected by 2.5" armour, 2" belt armour, 1.5" deck armour, 4 submerged torpedo tubes
1x Cagliari class (protected cruiser) - 4500 tons, medium range, 27 knots, 8x6" (5 guns broadside) bad British guns protected by 2" armoured shield, 1" protected deck armour
1x Trento class under construction (heavy cruiser) - 7200 tons, medium range, 30 knots, 3x2x8" Mk1 British average quality guns protected by 2" armour, 8x5" guns with 2" armoured shield, 2" belt armour, 1" deck armour, 2 scout planes in hangar
1x Varese class under construction (heavy cruiser) - 7200 tons, medium range, 30 knots, 3x2x203" excellent Italian protected by 2" armour, 8x152" Italian guns with 2" armoured shield, 2" belt armour, 1" deck armour, 2 scout planes in hangar
Comparison Italian cruisers with most modern cruisers in the world
As can be seen our cruisers are best in the world however except France and Austria-Hungary all nations have much higher number of cruisers in service (UK - 41/25 from them older 15 years, USA - 31/12, Germany - 31/19, Russia - 16/5). So there will be need for some cheaper cruisers we can build to have around 15-20 cruisers.
Fleet destroyers
We have following fleet destroyers:
7x Impavido class - 900 tons, short range, 33 knots, 5x100 mm guns (4 guns broadside), 2 triple centerline torpedo mounts
12x Quintino Sella class - 700 tons, medium range, 32 knots 2x100 mm guns, 3 single centerline torpedo mounts
12x Garibaldino class under construction - 900 tons, short range, 33 knots, 4x4" guns with forward and aft superimposed guns, 1 triple centerline torpedo mount, 2 double torpedo mounts on sides
Certainly we need new class of large destroyers with medium range that can replaced older Quintino Sella class destroyers.
Comparison Italian fleet destroyers with most modern fleet destroyers in the world
As can be seen our destroyers of Impavido and Garibaldino class are not bad for their displacement and are some of the fastest destroyers but are bellow average for firepower and torpedo armament compared to most modern foreign designs.
I decided to scrap old Turbine class destroyers of 500 tons that are reaching 20 years of service. Quentino Sella class destroyers will be mothballed.
Personal log - the 21st of June 1919
I have been informed that we can convert our old ships to light carriers. I will study if it cannot be done for some old Lepanto cruisers or Cagliari class protected cruiser.