1890 Italy - Creating that Italian Lake

[blarglol]

Oct 22, 2023 22:43:15 GMT -6 garrisonchisholm said:

Oct 22, 2023 22:21:46 GMT -6 blarglol said:

A few more pics of the strategic picture. They have a few more subs, and more BCs, but I like my odds here. Now I just need to not screw it up!

I'd try to close that BC gap if you can, though that is hard to do once hostilities are under way.  I find 2 ships is a dangerous formation to accept battle with, one bad hit and suddenly your solo survivor is needing to run and facing a lot more potential hits, and if your BC's are new fast and just the bee's knees it can be very hard to not take them into an engagement.  Good luck!  & bravo on your steadfast posting, staying dedicated to the needed note-taking for your write-ups is not easy!

Yes I need to work on that. Thanks for the compliments. I have a new battle to write about, hopefully I can do it justice.

[blarglol]

September 1919 - The Battle of the Night

The war's first battle was none other than a full-scale fleet action. In the dark. Such a thing could only happen as a chance engagement.

There had been rumors that the Austrians would attempt to attack Bari in force with a significant portion of their battlefleet. As a result, most of the operational ships of the Regina Marina were readied for action, including all of the modern battleships, both battlecruisers, and three out of four pre-dreadnoughts. Assembling in the late afternoon, they gathered into formation off of Bari and steamed generally eastward as evening turned to nighttime proper. All was quiet for a long period. It seemed nothing was out there. Come the dawn, they would be ready to intercept any intended enemy attack.

But fate had other plans. At 2106 local time on the night of the 23rd of August, an unidentified vessel was spotted only a couple thousand yards off from the light cruiser Etruria. Before identity could be established, the vessel veered away, even as the battlecruisers Francesco Carraciolo and Cristoforo Colombo moved in to investigate. 

No sooner had they changed course than additional unknown vessels were sighted at the front of the formation. This had to be the enemy fleet, out at night as well! Perhaps they intended to strike port installations under the cover of darkness?

Immediately, the destroyer screen was alerted and prepped for a night torpedo attack the moment identity was confirmed. Likewise, the Italian battleline was angled away from possible torpedo salvos from the foe, as several destroyers and light cruisers surged forward. Suddenly shots rang out from some of the interlopers. The enemy was certainly before them. Fire was returned, and the battle began in earnest.

In short order, several notable things happened at once. First, the exact types of vessels could not be identified in the dark as of yet, but this did not stop several destroyers from loosing torpedoes. Second, a smaller group of more forward enemy ships, in a more southeast position to the main body were sighted. Third, incoming torpedo tracks were detected. 

While most if not all of the Italian screens' various torpedoes missed or went off course, simultaneously blasts rang out along the main line. Unluckily for them, the old pre-dreadnoughts held the vanguard, and they suffered for it. Two separate explosions occurred simultaneously on Vittorio Emanuele, dooming the ship in a split second. Though she would limp on and float for some time, she was done for. Almost instantaneously, torpedoes also hit her sisters Ammiraglio Sant Bon and Dante Alighieri. Both ships slewed out of formation as they began to flood and chaos erupted in the night. 

Enemy destroyers were attempting attacks from several angles, and the Italian screens' had thus far been unsuccessful in torpedoing the enemy. Perhaps they could at least fend off these approaching light ships? And indeed they did, with both destroyers and the the light scout cruisers of the Umbria-class performing admirably. The foe's destroyers turned away for the moment, only to reveal - dreadnoughts! 

So the Osterreich had come out in force after all. This was no mere, light raid. Immediately fire was directed from the battleline upon their opposite numbers. Several shots from Roma and her sisters impacted the enemy battleships, but tremendous splashes began to erupt sporadically within the Italian line. What was this?

Then it was confirmed - the Babenburg was operational! With an unusual gun layout of dual turrets fore and aft, with a three-gun Q turret amidships, she nonetheless sported 16" rifles, capable of out-ranging and out-penetrating anything the Italians could field. Good thing it was night...

With this development, and given the status of the pre-dreadnoughts, the Regia Marina's line was pulled back to cover their wounded comrades, and to create more separation from the foe. The destroyers and light cruisers were instructed to redouble their efforts of attack, and one of the Austrian's large destroyers took a bad hit.

No sooner had this occurred then a calamitous strike from a dreadnought sent the light cruiser Campania into a spin with a locked rudder. Reducing speed, she attempted to repair her steering gear and control flooding. But another shell hit and she burst into flames. Large, ominous, magnificent flames and smoke took the ship as she became a beacon for every vessel in a 10nm radius. She went dead in the water, angled to the northwest, and took the full force of the Austro-Hungarian fleet, suffering shell after shell after torpedo as she burned. Still she did not sink, even when abandoned.

This frenzied attack on the mortally-wounded Campania created breathing room for the Italians to slowly shepherd the two wounded pre-dreadnoughts further away from the battle. Absolutely superb, top-grade damage control allowed both to halt their flooding and make significant steam as they moved slowly towards port and safety. An attempt by several enemy destroyers to close and torpedo the survivors was foiled, with at least one enemy vessel heeling over and rapidly sinking, but both Simone Schaffino and Pilade Bronzetti ate torpedoes for gallantly sticking to their screening positions.

And more were coming in. While the Lepantos had thus far been unengaged, their older cousins were in the thick of it. Roma, Napoli, and Sardegna all opened up with their secondaries on enemy destroyers, mortally wounding one, only for their accompanying destroyer Angelo Bassini to take a high-caliber shell from an enemy...battlecruiser? So they had them in the field too. This was getting out of hand.

The Italian battlecruisers tried to intercept their opposite numbers, but it was too chaotic in the dark. Ships loomed into view but for half a minute, fired a few shots or torpedoes, and veered off into the night. Still the burning hulk of Campania miraculously stayed afloat, attracting shellfire from all and sundry. A passing enemy destroyer was angling for the seaplane carrier Tersicore, but was illuminated by the fires and blown out of the water by the combined fire of Francesco Carraciolo, Cristoforo Colombo, and Campania's vengeful sisters. Even the old and wounded pre-dreadnoughts managed to land hits on assaulting foes.

Gradually, the tide of the enemy receded, and all was calm but for a moment. That is until a large silhouette swung closer to the Italian line, tentatively IDed as an enemy armored cruiser. There was only one problem with that - the Osterreich had no armored cruisers at the moment. This meant it was something else.

Immediately, every remaining torpedo was fired in a tremendous spread at this mystery vessel, the Italian screens attempting to make up for their earlier misses. Which they did with interest and then some. The ship stood no chance as at least half a dozen fish slammed into it's port side, and the battlecruisers lobbed 12" shells into the stricken shape with glee. Only after the fact was it discovered that this was the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought Monarch.

In it's eagerness to attack, she had strayed too close, all alone. Whether out of incompetence or battle-lust she paid the price, taking the place of Campania as the burning hulk at the center of the action. With this sudden loss and turn of events, it was clear that the fight had largely gone out of the Austrians. While several desultory exchanges occurred as both sides attempted to move off into the quiet safety of the night, nothing else of note occurred, save for the unfortunate Napoli running into a mine and almost capsizing (it was never determined whose mine precisely it was).

Luckily, she was able to make it back to port and join her older cousins, the pre-dreadnoughts, in receiving emergency repairs. When all was said and done, the Italians had traded three destroyers of 500, 600, and 900 tons, the newest launched in 1913, for four enemy counterparts, all 1,100 ton ships from 1916. While the Regia Marina had also lost the unlucky Campania, it, along with the equally unfortunate Vittorio Emanuele, were considered a fair trade for an enemy dreadnought. While of their oldest class, the loss of Monarch would allow the Italians to subsequently have an easier time establishing a blockade.

Equally of importance, the superb damage control of the Italian capital ship captains allowed their charges to be saved, and the three battleships were placed in drydock to be refitted during their necessary repairs. It was decided that given this sequence of events, all of the commanding officers, chief engineers, and any sailor that helped arrest the flooding on any of the three vessels, were all to be decorated. Moreso, their knowledge and experience was to become institutionalized and propagated throughout the fleet, with the admiralty adopting an official damage control training course for all vessels large and small. 

Altogether, while not ideal, there was much to see of the good side of fortune in this engagement. It could have been much, much worse.

---

Wheeew, that could have been messy. From the moment I saw that ship only a few thousand yards off, I knew this was going to be a chaotic mess. Luckily I sank one of their dreadnoughts, but time will tell if this truly makes a difference given their overall capital ship advantage. I will have a lot of tonnage in drydock for awhile...

[blarglol]

Jan 1920 -

A new year dawns but with the same old problems. The last few months had been a blur of engagements and actions of all sizes.

October, the Black Month. While the armored cruiser Calabria managed to intercept and sink the recently reactivated Minerva, Austria-Hungary's last remaining armored cruiser, dark things were brewing. The former's sister San Martino ran into a mine and was heavily damaged, while the SSC Velella never returned to base, reportedly sunk by an enemy destroyer. Worst of all however, the presence of enemy submarines and blockade runners damaged the supply routes to Albania, that the local garrisons had to be withdrawn in the face of rebel opposition. While the army pledged to return once the supply situation could be remedied, for now Albania was lost.

In November a sharp action off of Rhodes developed from a minor patrol into a large battlecruiser engagement. A total of five Austrian battlecruisers with accompanying light forces engaged the only two fielded by Italy. The protected cruiser Piemonte took a torpedo, but excellent damage control allowed her to make port in Lindos. The Italian battlecruisers were much better shots, firing at an oblique angle on the more numerous enemy. While no major damage was received, they successfully fended off a numerically superior foe (perhaps due to the unusual gun layout of some of the enemy BCs), and did significant damage to an enemy light cruiser. While retiring, the Tirol was put out of commission by the SSC Salpa, which would have to remain in drydock for some time.

December saw a raid on coastal shipping which was a "success," with a merchant and three large corvettes (all 1,500+ tons) sunk, while the support force of the Lepanto-class and accompanying light forces was supposed to distract the Austro-Hungarian forces by moving towards Pola. Unfortunately they ran into mines and the scout protected cruiser Umbria sank, several enemy airship attacks contributing to overall confusion. The battleships traded fire with enemy shore batteries and later, a pair of hostile battlecruisers. No major hits were received. 

One destroyer was lost to a mine, and another torpedoed by a submarine, though U-24 was claimed in reprisal. The worst news was that Japan would honor it's alliance with Austria-Hungary. While there wouldn't be much immediate impact, it was theorized that Japanese submarines could appear in the Mediterranean in later months. But there would be other consequences.

January saw the French use the pretext of an alliance with Japan to join the war and help Austria-Hungary, despite having no direct relations with her. French aircraft caught the submarine F 8 out on the surface at the start of hostilities, and she was bombed. The French submarine Espadon was found by Italian corvettes off of Imperia and sunk with all hands. The AMC Gazzella was unfortunately lost to an enemy mine, as was the light cruiser Agordat.

[blarglol]

Jan 1921 - A Year and a Half at War

And the most damaging such period of conflict Italy had yet faced. It had all spiraled downhill as a succession of different nations joined in what started as a simple fight, a chain of allies helping a previously uninvolved power. First, Austria-Hungary had called upon Japan. The Japanese had called in France, who then invited the Russians. The Guns of August indeed...What started as a fairly even match quickly became quite skewed in favor of the allies of convenience that the damnable Austrians had accumulated.

The name of the day was mines. Mines, submarines, torpedoes, many of the things that Italy herself had invested money in, yet apparently lacked sufficient countermeasures to oppose. Even if ships were not sunk, they sustained damage that took months to repair. Planned operational tempos were disrupted and costs grew as more mine hits were taken by ships big and small, also true of submarine torpedo damage.

The glaring fact was that more minesweeping and ASW craft were needed, and that of those that existed, many were vulnerable to in turn to those same things they were supposed to counter. Minesweepers ran into mines. Patrol craft were sunk by gunfire from submarines, others torpedoed.

The elephant in the room was aircraft, more specifically how utterly unable they remained to do lasting damage to the enemy. Despite the earliest investments in a large seaplane tender and a small light carrier, they hadn't contributed much to combat operations. The airships continued to dutifully perform reconnaissance, but all of the fixed-wing aircraft contributed next-nothing in sinking enemy ships. Italy had a large and modern airwing, with little to show for it.

In addition to the obvious Austro-Hungarian forces, France's heavies enabled a blockade of the Italian peninsula, a reversal from early attempts to bottle up the Osterreich's navy in the upper Adriatic. This spread the Italian fleet thin, having to cover the entire peninsula, national islands, Dalmatian coast, Greece, Rhodes, and the approaches to the Suez. 

The presence of Russian surface raiders and a plethora of Japanese submarines made matters even more fraught, as supplying the island possessions and colonies, even Greece, became an exercise in logistical futility. Quite simply, the Regina Marina was outnumbered, and in many cases, outgunned. Even a Russian battlecruiser had sailed down to the Mediterranean (despite having lost some of it's ostensible escorts).

Money had been poured into airfields and aircraft designs, while new capital ship development had been slowed. This was seen as unfortunate given the current tonnage imbalance. More to the point, submarines were being sunk faster than they could be built, mines claiming a majority. This put on a damper on a previously buoyant mood within the submarine arm of the fleet. The one bright spot in newer technologies were the MTB flotillas, widely used on Italian coasts. While not immediately successful in sinking enemies alone as of yet, their presence had significantly contributed to degrading enemy actions and materially contributed to victories in several engagements.

But with Albania already lost to an Austrian-fanned insurrection, the point of this draining war became unclear. Besides the old pre-dreadnought, protected cruiser, and three destroyers that had been lost in the war's opening fleet action, a plethora of other Italian vessels had since been sunk, mostly to mines and submarines. They came out to:

 - 7 coastal submarines

 - 7 medium submarines

 - 1 minelaying submarine

 - 3 armed merchant cruisers

 - 5 minesweepers

 - 1 colonial corvette

 - 11 destroyers

 - 7 protected/light cruisers (4 to mines)

Of these 42 vessels ranging in size from 400 tons for the smallest corvettes to 5,400 ton cruisers, the causes of their destruction were:

 - 2 sunk by surface torpedoes

 - 5 sunk by surface gunfire

 - 17 claimed by mines

 - 2 torpedoed by submarines

 - 5 sunk by submarine gunfire

 - 3 ambushed by Q-ships

 - 6 depth charged

 - 1 caught in submarine nets

 - 1 sunk by aerial bombing

Thus the attrition of the conflict was quite high 18 months into the fight. But there had been some good news. Despite the far more numerous enemy forces, the Regia Marina had added to their earlier tally of one dreadnought by claiming Monarch's sister, Wien, through gunfire, which saw the cautious Austrian fleet over-matched piecemeal by the Italian battleline. The Osterreich had also lost an armored cruiser, three light cruisers, four destroyers (in addition to the four lost with Monarch), four large corvettes, and numerous submarines of varying types.

The Japanese had lost close to twenty of their submarines in Mediterranean and Indian Ocean operations, netting only five corvettes for their involvement (albeit one being a large colonial vessel), while the French had lost three light cruisers (two mined and one torpedoed in a surface action), three destroyers (two mined and one to surface gunfire),one corvette, and nearly ten submarines.

The Russians proportionally to their involvement lost the most tonnage, with three light cruisers being sunk along with nine submarines. The cruisers, along with two of the Austrians', had all been obliterated during the same disastrous night action off of Rhodes in July of 1920, the Battle of Saria. This along, with the earlier engagements in the Adriatic against the Austro-Hungarian fleet, constituted the bulk of the war's surface actions.

A planned convoy raid off Capo Sperone by a pair of light cruisers was foiled by a massively larger French force in September 1920, which saw both they and the Italian fleet trade a pair of cruisers, the convoy largely unmolested. The Piemonte, an old protected cruiser, finally had it's luck run out when a torpedo hit from a random destroyer instantly detonated it's magazine while raiding off of Toulon. It had survived an earlier hit in a similar location eight months prior near Rhodes.

Thus, while attrition favored the larger overall numbers of the Austro-Hungarian-Franco-Russo-Japanese Front, losses of larger vessels to direct engagements as well as overall tonnage (excluding merchants) favored Italy. Additionally, submarine losses were quite heavy for the allies taken as a whole. Only time would tell if the Regina Marina could hang on long enough to achieve some sort of mild victory, or at least a dignified status-quo-ante in the face of fighting four separate industrial bases with greater amounts of ships of all types at their collective disposal.

In other, unrelated news, the US had converted the world's first battlecruiser, Brooklyn, into the the first large carrier, at 15,900 tons, but was surprised by the Spanish battlecruiser conversion Pedro de Aragon, at 17,200 tons. Thus Spain operated the world's largest aircraft carrier.

TOTAL LOSSES PER SIDE in the War Thus Far as of JANUARY 1921:

	Dreadnoughts	Pre-Dreadnoughts	Seaplane Carriers	Armored Cruisers	Protected/Light Cruisers	Armed Merchant Cruisers	Destroyers	Corvettes	Submarines
Italy	0	1	0	0	8	3	14	6	15
Enemy Alliance	2	0	1	1	9	0	11	10	~50

*Submarine losses are hard to establish as they are not dated in our data (naval intelligence lacking concrete facts on these slippery devils)

[blarglol]

Mar 1921 -

The war goes on. No large battles have been fought in recent months, but the war of attrition continues. Submarine losses for the Italian side have stemmed. 15 boats are operational, and F 3 sunk a Japanese KE in a surfaced gun duel. The same loss rate is not true for the enemy alliance.

Just in the past month alone, U-18, U-20, U-26, and the French boats Souffleur and Silure were lost, all to destroyer patrols. It is believed that over 65 submarines combined from all four nations have been sunk since the war's start.

A pair of new AMCs and another CL on raiding duty have increased damage to the enemy merchant force. Austrian, French, Japanese, and Russian transports have all suffered losses.

Mines continue to be a problem, but eight new minesweepers in the process of working-up should help the situation. Vespa detected and swept a minefield.

Superior damage control practices implemented in the year following the war's opening "Battle of the Night" have continued to pay dividends. Conte de Cavour hit a mine and was put into drydock for three months, but the damage could have been much worse. According to recent trends, this was an opportunity to mount AA guns while in drydock.

The destroyer Muggia hit a mine off of Nice while countering a French destroyer raid along the Riviera. While in earlier times this would have been a death sentence, the superb crew patched her up, controlled flooding, restarted the boilers, and successfully steamed her back to port. The ship's commander was commended for his actions.

Airplanes continue to be conspicuous in their widespread use, high cost, and general lack of ability to damage, let alone sink, enemy vessels. However, AA guns are slowly being phased into the fleet as a general precaution going forward, and new dual purpose guns, recently invented, are planned for use in the next phase of ship construction.

[blarglol]

Nov. 1921 - 28 Months and Compounding Disaster

By mid-1921, the weight of four nations naval forces began to wear at the Italian operational tempo. Between surface raiders, submarines, and mines, merchant traffic was being dangerously eroded. Transports had a hard time making it to far-flung outposts, and unrest was building both within the military as well as civil spheres.

For the outnumbered, outgunned, and overworked sailors of the Regia Marina however, the only choice was to carry on and hope that something in the hostile alliance would break first. To this end, an engagement was allowed to develop in the Adriatic in June 1921. A large-scale action, it nonetheless ended largely inconclusively. Austrian heavy units sought to use their superior numbers to whittle down the smaller-sized and -gunned Italian capital ships, an objective that failed, but saw a drop in operational capability due to units needing months of repairs post-battle.

The Osterreich fielded four battleships and ten battlecruisers, while the French contributed another four dreadnoughts. Against this, Italy could only put to sea six dreadnoughts to their combined ten, and two battlecruisers to their ten. Both sides battered the other in a seesaw engagement that only saw the unlucky destroyer Audace take several battleship-grade shells and roll over.

With a temporarily-reduced operational capacity, the last remaining pre-dreadnoughts, absent from the recent engagement, where called back into the line. It was increasingly worried that the 12" guns on the dreadnoughts were now ineffective, let alone the 11" rifles on the old Dante Aligheri's. Nonetheless - necessity dictated their use, and a bold plan was concocted to catch part of the French fleet unaware off of Toulon. This was to be a major error.

The evening of July 24th saw three dreadnoughts available for the sortie, along with 2/3 of the older battleships. It was hoped to hit a small portion of patrolling French units before they could quickly react in strength. Fleeting sightings were made intermittently while passing Nice, and it was initially assumed that these were mostly lighter units. The decision was made to push on towards the original hunting grounds off of Toulon, circling back towards the earlier sightings should nothing else appear.

In truth, the French had 6 dreadnoughts in the area along with a pair of battlecruisers, backed up by four Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts. This constituted vastly superior forces than intelligence had foretold. In a confusing and bizarre action that saw the Italian vessels increasingly penned in and harrased by hostiles operating from both Toulon and Nice, both pre-dreadnoughts were lost, desperately trying to hold the line in retreat back to La Spezia.

Worst of all, the dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci was also lost to combined gunfire from six battleships before being torpedoed. Despite heroic sorties by the destroyers which saw two French dreadnoughts torpedoed and heavily listing, no enemy heavy units were sunk, only damaged, albeit severely. Eight destroyers of various classes were also lost in the debacle, ranging from 1,000 tons to ancient 300 tonners. Gunfire and torpedoes accounted for the majority, while two ran into mines. French losses were a single destroyer that also ran into a minefield. The sole bright spot was the Roma being able to make port after suffering innumerable heavy shells, another testament to damage control.

Following this disaster it would be several months before any Regia Marina heavy ships put to sea, such was the degradation of forces and the dire comparison of strength between the opposing sides of the conflict. Mines and an inability to clear the battlespace and make a safe port continued to cause losses in the submarine arm and surface raiding forces. This situation led the admiralty staff to once again plan a larger action, this time far away from the earlier battles.

Crete was selected as an ideal location, given the proximity to many ports in both mainland Greece and Rhodes should something go catastrophically wrong like it did months prior. September 28th saw the two operational dreadnoughts and battlecruisers steam to Crete, once again hoping to find a way to even the odds and whittle something off of the Austro-Hungarian-Franco-Russo-Japanese fleet of heavy vessels. While as-always outgunned, for once the force was not ounumbered, with a Austrian BB and a combined Austro-French force of 3 BCs being present. The Italian heavy units succeeded in wounding the 33,800 battlecruiser Mahren with 12" gunfire, allowing the light cruisers Puglia and Liguria to close and torpedo her, sealing the ship's fate. However, Liguria did not survive the close encounter.

A pair of destroyers were also lost in the action, while France lost one as well. Taken altogether, the Crete engagement represented the type of battle sought in the previous two engagements, but that had respectively failed to occur for various reasons. It was a minor victory of sorts, at least something good for morale. Still - while a success in taking out a battlecruiser, accumulating damage and a loss of lighter units represented dual threats to the war effort that could not be ignored. Mines, Q-ships, submarines, and even aircraft succeed in hitting and sinking everything from minesweepers to the old armored cruiser San Martino by November.

To make up these losses, eight submarines were in varying stages of being built, along with three very fast light cruisers of 29kts, and a brand new run of 1,100 ton destroyers. It was hoped that the larger DDs could better stand up individually to their more numerous foes, whiles the high speed of the CLs would make them invaluable for everything from quick, small-scale mining operations to both raiding and counter-raiding actions.

But two large questions still lingered - what to do about the lack of heavy units and the existing ships mere 12" guns, and how to increase the effectiveness of aviation. Thus far, only the French ASW planes had sunk anything. The amount of bomb hits on hostile vessels since the war began could be counted on one hand, and many saw the air-arm as an ineffective sink of money, time, and technical resources that should instead have been properly put into larger and more heavily-armored capital ships....

---

I'm really getting worried here. I don't have enough heavy ships, and what I do have can't go toe-to-toe. My theory of a modern Jeune Ecole of sorts doesn't seem to be working, and subs/planes/mines can't seem to do enough damage to give me that needed edge. Worse, it's the combined mining of so many enemies that has severely degraded my operational tempo and cost me quite a few vessels. I did not anticipate needing so many minesweepers, because I did not expect to face a 4v1 war, where two of my foes are safely out of harm's way and can continue to send minelaying subs to my waters with impunity...

[blarglol]

Dec. 1921 - The End

By St. Francis himself, Mezzadra cried when he received the telegram. It was over.

For once, the Admiralty was just fine with a status-quo-antebellum. The damned politicians had managed to convince the other four nations to just up and stop fighting. It had been over two years, but it was time for an honorable peace.

The fleet was......tired. The poor Dante Alighieri, last pre-dreadnought in the world, could finally be laid to rest. Laid down exactly 16 years prior, there were plans to possibly make her a museum, but no one knew if that would come to pass. Likewise, the last three remaining armored cruisers were all about 20 years old give or take, and their time of service was at an end.

Post-war budget cuts would mean rebuilding the navy would take time. Just before the end of hostilities, plans were finally put into motion to build test models for modern battleships and battlecruisers, large ships almost 40,000 tons with 14" rifles. Now...the money would have to be found to fund these. Never again would the Regia Marina find itself outnumbered, outgunned, and surrounded by foes like it did in this last war - the "Albanian War" as some were now calling it (Albania being the actual, initial cause of the conflict having been forgotten by many given the broad scope and international nature of fierce struggle that it organically involved into).

A final bright note that the admiral reflected on was that the closing action of the war had been a decisive and unambiguous Italian victory. The raiding, armed merchant cruiser Springarda had managed to bait the French light cruiser Lalande, of the Cassard-class. This was particularly notable for several reasons.

Firstly - in the recorded annals of modern naval history, such a powerful warship (eight 6" guns and four submerged tubes) had never been ambushed and destroyed by a mere merchant cruiser. The Frenchman had been conducting a routine inspection and stopped to send over a ships boat, when suddenly the Springarda launched a torpedo. Before the French could react, the swift fish hit the cruiser just aft of the bridge, directly beneath an open 6" mount. It was surmised that this caused further structural damage in the interior of the respective gun's magazine, creating an avenue for more-rapid-than-usual flooding. The hit also instantly disabled electric power, and with them the pumps. Within a minute the ship was heeling to port without so much as having fired off a single shot.

Secondly - Lalande was a ship with some history, having been present at the disastrous (for Italy) raiding operation off Capo Sperone back in September 1920. While the French lost an equal amount of cruisers, including Lalande's eldest sister, Cassard, the convoy to North Africa got through almost completely unscathed, and the losses of the newer ships Urania and Elba hurt the balance of forces with their combined capabilities of speed and firepower. Lalande came out of the battle without being hit at all, while doing significant damage to both of her opponents with gunfire and torpedoes, contributing directly to their sinking. She even shelled a land battery. It was Lalande, that in unclear circumstances, damaged the raiding cruiser Iride and led to her scuttling. And the ship had also been at the horrible Battle of the Ligurian Sea where the dreadnought Leonardo da Vinci had been lost. Despite taking a torpedo and sustaining heavy damage, Lalande survived. It was good to finally be rid of this persistant foe.

Thirdly - it once again demonstrated the growing power of the torpedo. Yes, the Regia Marina needed more heavy ships, but it would be remiss in not remembering how powerful light units had become with proper torpedoes. While aircraft as of yet had proved largely ineffective, it was predicted that time would only see them grow more capable. With good torpedoes, aircraft could become a dire threat to any warship.

Mezzadra had much to do. He didn't know how old Coglione had gotten so much done for all those years. But Coglione had never had to fight a war such as this last one...not to mention the hostile alliances still held. France was allied to both Russia and Japan, while Austria-Hungary also maintained it's relations with the latter. For it's part, Britain was allied with the United States, an absolutely formidable combination of: naval expertise, large fleet size, tremendous basing opportunities, advanced technology, gigantic industrial capabilities, and the unique ability to project power to every corner of the globe. The Italian politicians had better avoid antagonizing either of those nations...

Only Italy, Germany, and Spain remained outside the international system of alliances. Now, if the politicians could get off of their collective rears and make them allies, maybe the next war could go differently?

[blarglol]

Ok so I got a bit lazy in posting (or overeager in building) and played quite a ways ahead, but I am attempting to go back and add some events and coverage to the preceding years...

---

Dec. 1926 - Rebuild, Rebuild, Rebuild, With Whatever is at Hand

Throughout 1921-1922, a flight of six new 1,100 ton destroyers were put into the water, the Euro-class. Three 4" guns, two quadruple torpedo mounts, nine light AA guns, and the ability to carry a dozen mines, all for 31knts, meant they were quite the jacks-of-all-trades. It would not be for many more years that new DDs were prioritized, something perhaps to be of some concern in later years.

Late 1922 - early 1924 saw the first new light cruisers come off the lines in several years. The Campania-class were fast (at 29knts), well-armed, and quite serviceable, but looked somewhat like the old protected cruisers. Eight 6" guns, two fore, two each forward and aft on the wings, as well as inline W and Y mounts aft, gave it a split field of fire. There were worries that they wouldn't be competitive with plans for newer designs with superfiring guns. Nonetheless, their speed was a welcome addition to the Regia Marina, which lacked enough fast cruisers, and the Campania's load of 56 mines would be helpful to seeding the long coasts with defensive barrages.

In mid-1923, the first of Italy's battlecruisers since the original Francesco Caraciolo's were laid down. Designed a couple years prior, nonetheless hulls were needed in the water and the design was ready. The Marcantonnio Colonna and her future sister were to be 35,000 tons and make 28knts. They sported ten 14" rifles in an A-B-R-X-Y layout, with six 5" casemates per side, and six 3" DP guns in total clustered around the centerline. An improved director, 10" on the belt, 10.5" on the turrets, 3.5" on the deck, 3" on the the secondaries, and 12.5" on the conning tower, were all thought be sufficient to face contemporary foes. Lastly, they retained two submerged torpedo tubes just-in-case...

Their earlier cousins meanwhile were being overhauled into battleships, considered too slow to be proper battlecruisers now...

At the same time as work on the battlecruisers was beginning, the old seaplane carrier/armored cruiser Tersicore (having in one form or another been on the seas thirty years since commissioning in May 1896), was overhauled, having her 5" guns replaced with dual purpose 4" mounts, as well as the main 6" turret getting increased elevation, and some medium and light AA weapons being installed. Similarly the AMC raiders were also given DP secondaries and more AA mounts. Across all of the fleet, much was the same, and resources that otherwise would have went into new ships were spent on refits to older vessels, in order to protect them against the growing threat of aircraft.

New 900-ton KEs were laid-down as well, with 4" main guns, 3" DP secondaries, depth charge throwers, and AA guns - they were meant to find and sink submarines with superior speed and maneuverability while being able to outgun any that surfaced, all while surviving air-attack. The lessons of the Albanian War meant that there could never be enough ASW craft.. In the same vein the new Ibis-class minesweepers, 700 tons, were also modernized with AA mounts.

All of this activity served to mask greater debates - how to afford new battleships? Post-war spending cuts and a worldwide depression presented few opportunities for investing in capital ships. While other nations had serviceable battletlines and were beginning to experiment with true CVs, Italy lagged behind. How to close the gap? There simply wasn't enough money. At least venerable Stromboli, the last armored cruiser, had been expended as a gunnery target in Jan. 1924. The old contraptions on hand could be barely afforded, let alone those things..

Fascist coups in Spain and Germany had made both nations more belligerent and hostile. Luckily Germany was a natural naval ally of Italy, but Spain had Mediterranean concerns...

[blarglol]

January 1929 - Still Working, but Still Alive

Mezzadra sighed. At least the peace had lasted this long, although given when tensions sat, he expected it to break within a few years at the very most. After their clever intelligence men had found a pretext to help coup the sitting Albanian monarch, things were heating up again in the Mediterranean. At least this time around there was no active rebellion to suppress...

But it was not the Austrians he worried about, though some developments there were concerning, but the French, and how they maintained their alliance with Russia. His experiences back in the Albanian War proved that Russian subs and surface raiders, as well as battlecruisers augmenting the enemy line, could be quite problematic and shift the balance of power demonstrably. At least he had finally laid down the Caio Duilio's in early '28.

While the Italian parliament seemed determined to hamstring his forces from approaching true parity with the French, let alone them combined with another nation, the Caio Duilio-class was nothing to sneeze at. 41,500 tons, they would tie a one-off ship from Germany (and one being built in the US) as the largest battleships in the world (though bigger BCs existed courtesy of the inexhaustible Royal Navy...). For 27knt, they mounted eight 15" rifles (more reliable 16" guns not being available) in the A-B-X-Y configuration, a dozen 6" secondaries in three dual mounts per side, and ten 3" DP guns for light craft and heavy AA fire. In addition, a dual torpedo mount was placed on the deck on each beam, an interesting experiment never before done on a capital ship of the Regia Marina. 16 medium and dozen light AA guns gave it even more firepower against aircraft.

15.5" of belt armor should be (if intel was correct) the thickest in the world, with 16" on the turrets. Third generation TPS secured the waterline, while a 3" deck and a whopping 18" on the conning tower, should protect it against all but the mightiest of foes. These sisters were meant to be able to take a pounding from on the water, below the surface, as well as the sky, and keep on fighting - important given how Italy often faced multiple foes who in of themselves outnumbered her even alone in capital ships.

But there should have been money for more. A lot of funding had been allocated to rebuilding the engines and directors of older cruisers over the past decade or so. That, and refits to the equally old if not older capital ships, meant that funds for new vessels were few and far between. Mezzadra simply had to make due with what he had. A bright spot was in aircraft design. All of the planes accepted for field use had Average or better reliability. The last thing he needed was his expensive aerial contraptions falling out the sky or crashing on takeoff. Large-scale helium production and improved engines for his airships meant that they were also far more reliable than previous generations.

There were plans down for a pair of new colonial corvettes to give the old Alce some rest, as well as a flight of six new 1,500 destroyers, but would all of this be enough if push-came-to-shove?

[blarglol]

May 1931 - They Pushed...and It Shoved

The reports had just come in that it would be at least another four months before Cristoforo Columbo came out of refit, and another nine months before both of the Caio Duilio-class were finally finished. It would be six-seven months before the new ASW corvettes were ready, but at least only three before the new minesweepers were ready. War had been raging for nine months and the Regia Marina needed more vessels, of every category.

Mezzadra knew they were lacking in new heavier cruisers, many of which were now afloat with double or triple turrets superimposed. Not enough modern destroyers were on hand to cover what modernized capital ships they had to boot, which in themselves were lacking. A new light cruiser design was being trialed, along with 1,600 ton destroyers, but it would be a year or more before the earliest of those could be ready. Not to mention they were broke again...

While the bulk of the 1920s were peaceful, the 30s looked to be picking up where things had left off a decade earlier. War had erupted between France and Germany over ostensibly colonial issues, and fighting broke out in many theaters. Southeast Asia, West Africa, the Mediterranean, and of course Northern Europe, all saw a seesawing escalation of engagements that led to Russian involvement. The French had lost one of their three operational aircraft carriers, the Bois Belleau. 21,900 tons and 29kts, she could carry 64 aircraft and would be sorely missed. Multiple light cruisers had been lost along with destroyers, but nothing else large.

The same could not be said for Russia, which saw the dreadnought Sisoi Veliki sent to the bottom in one engagement, while the battlecruiser Izmail was lost in another.

In September 1930, Italy was drawn in, declaring war against French aggression and arrogance, allowing Germany to rebalance some of it's forces against the Russian Baltic Fleet. Immediately, the French launched a destroyer raid from Nice, which failed utterly. Shore batteries pummeled the marauding ships and directly sank one, while disabling another which was finished off by their patrolling Italian counterparts. The small scout cruiser Etruria took a torpedo, but superior DC training allowed her to make port for repairs. Another French DD escaped the scene, but it was an ignominious start to French efforts overall.

Light craft and submarines were exchanged over the next couple months, with Italy losing a minesweeper. However a combined Franco-Russian force engaged a join Italo-German force off of Sirte in November, which saw a trade in light cruisers. Russia lost a pair, while Germany's Hamburg ate a torpedo and slowly succamb to flooding. The battle ended with the former steaming back to North Africa while pursued by the latter alliance.

A handful of corvettes and submarines were lost into the new year, while a pair of destroyers hit mines. A notable loss was the old protected cruiser Lombardia, modernized in the early 20s. She was avenged by Iride and traded for the more modern French cruiser Jean Bart.

March 1931 saw a second engagement develop off of Sirte, this time as large French raiders tried to attack a heavily protected Italian convoy. The "super cruiser" Bruix, backed by smaller escorts, was confronted with numerous Regia Marina battleships. While sporting eight 10" guns in a triple A, double B, triple Y configuration, she nonetheless lacked the range to contend with the old battleships' 12" rifles. Numerous AP shots destroyed or disabled her forward turrets, while her fire control systems were shot away. Limping home in despair, she, along with an escorting destroyer, were hit by a spread of torpedoes fired by the lucky submarine F 3, which found itself as fate would have it in perfect position. Trying to reach the safety of Sfax, both ships went to the bottom, Bruix taking two hits, the destroyer a single torpedo amidships.

However, heavy French units were consolidating in the Mediterranean, sure to equalize the balance of power. Combined with Russian surface raiders, they were bound to cause problems for the heretofore ascendant Italian fleet. By the same token, they left themselves curiously open to Germany in their northern waters, perhaps counting on the Russian distraction in the Baltic. Mezzadra just hoped he had enough units to cover the myriad threats from air, sea, and undersea...

[blarglol]

More new updates coming soon - engagements, losses, and fierce action on the seas - stay tuned!

[blarglol]

Oct 1931 - When Battleships Attack...and Defend

Old, but proud. That is how Mezzadra could look upon his battleships...himself too if he was being honest. In four months Roma would be 20 years old, how the time flew by. The Regia Marina would have two decades of operating dreadnoughts - a long-time for lessons to be learned. Soon the Caio Duilio-class would finally be done and hopefully be able to dominate the seas.

In the meantime, once again the French had sortied to intercept one of his Sicilian-bound convoys. And the qualitative advantage of the enemy had been obvious.

The Condorcet, a Paris-class battleship of 33,200 tons, could make 23 kts with a 12" belt. The true threat lay in nine 16" guns, organized in a triple A-Q-Y arrangement. She also had sixteen 6" secondaries spread across eight dual turrets. Overall this was in contrast to the pair of newest, but more economical dreadnoughts, the Lorraine-class. Lorraine weighed 25,100 tons, making 25 kts, but with a thinner belt of 10.5". In place of triple 16" rifles, she sported dual 15" guns in the same A-Q-Y fashion as the earlier battleship. Eighteen 5" secondaries in dual turrets complemented the larger guns.

It was this pair of vessels, accompanied by one light cruiser and six destroyers that was sent on the attack. They were meant to move fast, hard, and strike the convoy before the slower Italian ships could respond. Intelligence had indicated the French might try something like this, which was why six capital ships were readied to sortie and put to sea as soon as it was ascertained that the convoy was in danger. Three divisions, Lepanto and Conte di Cavour, Roma and Napoli, and Francesco Caracciolo and Cristoforo Columbo, took part in the large engagement that would come to be know by varying names in both nations, chief among them the 2nd Battle of the Convoy, or the Duel of the Battleships.

In brief, the Italian forces, though more numerous, were strung out. Only two of the battleships, Lepanto and Conte di Cavour were actually in position to screen the convoy, along with a handful of destroyers and a pair of light cruisers. The rest of the remaining four capital ships, light cruisers, and squadrons of destroyers were scouting to the general West of the convoy route, searching for the French before they could get in range of the vulnerable merchants. There was only one problem with this: the French were intercepting from a more southerly angle than they were expecting.

Alarms blared across the pair of sisters in Battleship Division 1. Their French counterparts had been sighted and were rapidly approaching, intending to use their larger size and armament to smash through the screening Italians and get at the convoy. While nothing to sneeze at with ten 12" rifles in triple A-Y mounts with superfiring, dual B-X mounts above, the Lepanto-class did not have the range to contend with 15-16" guns, nor their penetrating power for that matter. This was a situation that could be dire indeed.

As the first enemy shells began to fall, Lepanto and her sister did the only thing that duty demanded - they remained at their post. All guns trained to port, they fired back in a furious fusilade, and the battle was truly joined. Back and forth, each side's salvo fell, closer and closer, until hits began to be taken. While the Italians scored on the larger French vessels, their inferior caliber made it less likely they would cause serious damage. However the French shells had no such problems, and before long both 15 and 16" shells began to cause serious concern aboard Lepanto, while Conte di Cavour was bleeding speed and fuel from ruptured feed lines and a damaged engine room. Reducing speed to match her sister, Lepanto hung on, with no intention of leaving. All they had to do was survive long enough.

For they were not alone. When the first sighting had been made, frantic signals were sent to the rest of the fleet at sea. 40 - 50nm away, it would take time for them to come about and join the fray. But the brave sisters fought and won that time. First, Roma and Napoli knifed in from the northeast, while the former Caracciolo battlecruisers came in from a more southerly route, mirroring the initial French approach. What began as Condorcet and Lorraine slowly getting the better of Lepanto and Conte di Cavour at close range with superior armament, ended as a trap with them caught between much more numerous and still dangerous hostile forces.

Lacking in destroyers, the six French escorts tried in vain to to shield their charges. 12" shells began to strike the suddenly surrounded battleships as waves of torpedoes were fired by the Italian light vessels. There would be no escape for them.

When all was said and done, Battleship Division 1 was moderately-damaged, but able to safely make port. Their steadfast duty in staying with the convoy bought just enough time for the other vessels to come to their aid. Both Lorraine and Condorcet took dozens of heavy shells and multiple torpedoes each, as they were systematically surrounded and reduced to fire-stricken, leaking hulks, blasted repeatedly until sunk. A pair of French destroyers were also claimed, the other four slipping away with the light cruiser. The Regia Marina only lost the unfortunate Tigre, the leader of the newest destroyers. She had the misfortune to take a single, massive 16" shell from Condorcet, which despite doing tremendous damage, wasn't immediately fatal, but disabling. While drifting out of control in the aftermath of the chaotic engagement, she was pounced upon by the retiring but vengeful French escorts and promptly sunk.

In all - taking two dreadnoughts of superior speed and armament out of the French battleline would go a long way to evening the score in the Mediterranean. No Russian heavy ships had arrived, bottled up by the Germans as they were. Combined with the imminent arrival of the new Duilio sisters, Mezzadra could almost breath a sigh of relief. Perhaps things were about to turn for the better, if only those blasted mines and aircraft could be contained.

---

I thought I had a picture for Lorraine as well, but apparently I took two screenshots of the Condorcet! But still, very interesting engagement overall. I'm happy with this result for once. A single destroyer for two, with a pair of very dangerous dreadnoughts sent to the bottom. I needed this given my lack of large-caliber BBs.

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[garrisonchisholm]

A brilliant engagement! I actually got goosebumps. What type of captains, what skills did they have, on Lepanto & Conte di Cavour?

[blarglol]

Feb 4, 2024 15:17:12 GMT -6 garrisonchisholm said:

A brilliant engagement! I actually got goosebumps. What type of captains, what skills did they have, on Lepanto & Conte di Cavour?

Thank you - the lead captain on Lepanto was simply Above Average. Conte di Davour's CO was actually Below Average, but also Wily and Lucky. The division admiral was Above Average.

[blarglol]

After thought, I am going to suspend this AAR. The game has advanced too much since I started on version 1.00.14. We are now past 40. While I would like to continue it, I would rather play in an environment where many, many of the bugs that were present have been long-fixed. I hope you understand. I may do another AAR at some point if you all would like it. Thank you.