My original World War II naval project was focussed on the vessels involved in the Battle of Cape Matapan. Yet in some ways Matapan is a little unbalanced if you allow the battleships of both fleets to engage. Specifically there is just one Italian battleship to face three British battleships. Therefore, when placing my order with Navwar it seemed some variety in Italian heavy units was needed. What better place to start than three of the older battleships.
A little consideration was of course required. After some thought the first two selected were the Conte di Cavour and her sister ship, Giulio Cesare.
Both ships entered service during the First World War but saw no action. Heavily refitted and modernised from 1933 until late 1937 both were, by the time of World War II, reasonably capable. Their main armament of thirteen 12" guns was reduced to ten, but rebored to 12.6". Secondary and anti-aircraft armaments were updated. Structurally a new bow was created and armour, boilers and underwater protection replaced or enhanced. In all only 40% of the of the original structure remained. Below, Conte di Cavour in 1938.
In their modernised form both ships covered the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939. The following year Italy entered World War II which resulted in both being engaged in July 1940 at the Battle of Calabria. Below, Conte di Cavour and Giulio Cesare in miniature.
At the Battle of Calabria Giulio Cesare opened fire at HMS Warspite at a range of over 26 kilometres with shells quickly straddling HMS Warspite. Warspite split her fire and soon after a shell from Warspite struck Giulio Cesare at a distance of about 24 kilometres. The shell pierced the rear funnel and detonated inside it, blowing out a hole over six meters across. With Giulio Cesare's speed reduced and unsure of the full damage both Italian battleships turned away, unwilling to face both HMS Warspite and HMS Malaya. Fortunately Giulio Casare's damage was minor, as such she was quickly repaired allowing both to escort convoys in August and September.
At the Battle of Taranto, the 11th to 12th of November 1940, Conte di Cavour was badly damaged and was effectively knocked at of the war as a result. Giulio Cesare was however undamaged and was present at the Battle of Cape Spartivento on 27 November 1940. Here she was unable to engage the British ships. In December 1941 she participated in the First Battle of Sirte where she provided distant cover for a convoy bound for Libya, though again not firing her main armament.
The third of the older battleships I completed so far is the Andrea Doria. Completed in 1916 she was heavily modified between 1937 and 1940, finally available for service in late October 1940.
Failing to intercept the British ships that bombarded Genoa she escorted convoys until her first engagement at the First Battle of Sirte. After the war Andrea Doria served as the flagship of the Italian fleet during 1950 and then again from March 1951 to May 1953.
Above, all three battleships deployed in something of a fleet review. The miniatures are all from Navwar's 1/3000th range.
Comments
Post a Comment