Italian Aircraft Carrier Aquila

[BECA@CLEAR.NET.NZ]

The Aqila was built, then scuttled by the Italians to stop the Germans getting her. She was raised by the Germans and then scuttled again. She was then raised for the last time and towed away for scrap!
She never entered service with the Italian navy.
Picture by C.T. Burke via M.O.D.

[astraltrader]

A few pictures of her firstly in 1943 then 1944,1945 and finally after the war...

[BECA@CLEAR.NET.NZ]

Interesting pics Terry, I could only find one!
Regards.

[astraltrader]

Thanks Colin. These were pictures I already had on file.

[Jim in Annville]

Does anyone have any specs on her? Speed, displacement, aircraft.

[clevewyn]

Lots on Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_aircraft_carrier_Aquila

[Jim in Annville]

Thanks. I wonder why I didn't think of looking there. LOL

[Jack Greene]

The most recent article in English that I am aware of is by Vince O'Hara and Enrico Cernuschi who talk about Italian aircraft carrier projects, and the heated objections by the Italian Air Force lasting into the 1980's(!!) in WARSHIP 2007.

There are some good articles and one book in Italian on the topic and we cover it in THE NAVAL WAR IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 1940-1943. The paperback edition has some corrections in it. :o

[Jeffa4444]

These are photgrapghs my Father had I assume he got them when on MTBs see story below. The five aircraft are IMAN Ro.43.

WikiPedia article "Giuseppe Miraglia was laid down in 1921 as the train ferry Citta de Messina, but was acquired by the Regia Marina soon after her launch in 1923. Works to convert her into a seaplane carrier began in 1925, and was commissioned in 1927.
Giuseppe Miraglia participated in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and the Spanish Civil War. During World War II, after surviving the Battle of Taranto, she was employed in the Mediterranean theatre. After the Armistice she sailed (along with much of the Italian fleet) to Malta for internment.
After the RN Costal forces MTB depot ship HMS Vienna was straddle by bombs and damaged beyond repair during the Luftwaffe bombing raid on the Italian port of Bari on December 2nd 1943 and the subsequent mustard gas disaster the Giuseppe Miraglia was impressed by the (British) Royal Navy as temporary replacement.

After the War Giuseppe Miraglia was used to repatriate Italian prisoners-of-war, then spent the rest of her career as a barrack ship and workshop at Taranto until her scrapping in 1950."

[designeraccd]

Nice shots of the G.M.; thanks!!! Very interesting. Do you have any others? DFO ;)

[Jeffa4444]

This is the only other shot I have of the"Giuseppe Miraglia" I assume this shot was when she was used as a depot ship for the RN.

[astraltrader]

I have some others although the quality is not top notch.

This is possibly the best of the them.

[bezukhov]

Various pics of Miraglia; quality is not the best but at least they give an impression of the ship. I included a model photo because is the only one I found that is taken from above.

Greetings,
Michele

[designeraccd]

Thanks for the interesting shots of her! Picture 2 apparently shows her "bulged". Do you know when that was done? My information on her is quite minimal.
Also, do you have any of the unfinished Aquila??

While out in Los Angeles recently I bought a good monograph on the 7 Italian heavy cruisers: many nice photos I hadn't seen before, although I was hoping for more of the Pola. DFO :D

[bezukhov]

Hi!

the "bulge" was added in 1935, obviously not to protect her from torpedoes, as usually done for some major naval units, but to improve trasversal stability. I hope the correct term in English is this, it's not easy to translate specific naval terms. In Italian this "bulge" is commonly called "controbordo".

Little theoretical digression:
to improve trasversal stability, there are 3 ways: lower the load (if possible), ballast the ship, or build a "controbordo". Anyway you have a reduction of speed; Miraglia's top speed passed from 21 knots to 19, while her width was increased by 2 metres.
Data as these are contained in the quite detailed sheet I included with the photos, if it's not comprehensible, I can translate it.

P.S. If you want to share your images, I think they will be very appreciated!

Greetings,Michele

[bezukhov]

About the photos of Aquila that you asked:
I have some pics but they represent ship in advanced state of construction. Quality is quite poor, but one or two are anyway quite interesting.

I also include two nice pictures of Roma.

Michele

[designeraccd]

Thanks for the pics of Roma/Aquila. I had once stumbled over a website with numerous photos of her, mostly post war that I had never seen. I bookmarked the site, but lost it with a hard drive crash! Never have found it again! :(

Did you build that model of the seaplane carrier? Kit or scratchbuild? Looks NICE! All the photos are very interesting, thanks again...DFO :D

[barryp]

The first picture on post 13 is very interesting. It presumably shows a Re 2000 undergoing catapult trials; note the retracted undercarriage. These were used from the Italian battleships for 'one-way' missions.

[Blaydon]

The first picture on post 13 is very interesting. It presumably shows a Re 2000 undergoing catapult trials; note the retracted undercarriage. These were used from the Italian battleships for 'one-way' missions.

What like an italian version of a CAM ship?

[bezukhov]

Hmmm...I think your comparison is not completely fitting...CAM ships were merchant ships used in merchant convoys and had one-launch airplanes (fighters, used to intercept enemy bombers).
Miraglia instead was a seaplane tender, with fleet duties. I think she was never used in merchant convoys. More, she was built to recover the planes after the flight, they weren't lost as in the CAM ships.

Michele

[Blaydon]

Hmmm...I think your comparison is not completely fitting...CAM ships were merchant ships used in merchant convoys and had one-launch airplanes (fighters, used to intercept enemy bombers).
Miraglia instead was a seaplane tender, with fleet duties. I think she was never used in merchant convoys. More, she was built to recover the planes after the flight, they weren't lost as in the CAM ships.

Michele

If you had bothered to read or look then you would see that the aircraft I was refering to was not float equipped and therefore would have to ditch or land at a shore base as miraglia did not have a landing deck she could not have recovered this aircraft therefore it was a one way trip like the fighters on CAM ships.

[bezukhov]

Ok sorry, surely I didn't intend to be unkind. What you meant is correct, referring to that particular photo. The interesting question is why there were a fighter instead of a seaplane. I will try to get some information about it, if you already have some, please tell me and I'll learn something new!

Best wishes,
Michele

[barryp]

Ok sorry, surely I didn't intend to be unkind. What you meant is correct, referring to that particular photo. The interesting question is why there were a fighter instead of a seaplane. I will try to get some information about it, if you already have some, please tell me and I'll learn something new!

Best wishes,
Michele

It would seem that Michele's native language is not English and we might be kind enough to not expect him to immediately understand every post.

The CAM comparison is reasonably valid, the Re 2000s were catapulted from the modern battleships to provide a modicum of air cover and then land on a land-based airfield, rather than in the water like the CAM aircraft.

[bezukhov]

About the photo with Reggiane Re.2000 "Catapultabile":

it refers to some trials, conducted to verify the possibility for this type of fighter to be launched from major units with similar device.
The pilot was tenente Giorgio Reiner (1915-2002), Italian ace of Regia Aeronautica. The first launch was on 9 May 1942 from RN Miraglia off coast from Taranto, with success. Other launches were performed on 13, 18, 20 and 23 of the same month. After that, some Reggiane Re.2000s were loaded on Roma, Vittorio Veneto and Littorio/Italia.
The only occasion in which a Reggiane Re.2000 was launched in action was in the afternoon of 9 Sept, 1943, after the sinking of Roma, and it was one of the couple on Vittorio Veneto. The pilot was tenente pilota Guido Parrozzani. He later crash-landed on Ajaccio airfield. (from Francesco Mattesini, "La Marina e l'8 settembre")

Now it's clear that the presence of fighter(s) on RN Miraglia had been limited to five days of tests during two weeks of May 1942.

I include some other photos of those trials.

Detail: the black goose on the tail, clearly visible in the first photo, was the symbol of the few Reggiane Re.2000s on Roma, Vittorio Veneto and Littorio/Italia.

to Kev and barryp:
Yes, English is not my native language. And, yes, everything I posted is taken directly from documents, photos and books, not from my personal opinions.
But, if we're talking about opinions, I think that if a ship has a catapult, this doesn't mean she looks like a CAM ship. I've tried to explain the story of those photos, if your opinion remains different, well…it's just an opinion!

Best wishes
Michele

[Blaydon]

I was not refering to the ship being like a cam ship but the aircraft.

As in a cam ship the aircraft here is for air protection, it cannot be recovered by the parent ship and therefore has to ditch or land ashore.

It is in this way that the fighter is used in a similar manner to those launched from a cam ship.

[bezukhov]

As in a cam ship the aircraft here is for air protection,


The aircraft was here because of trials, as written in my previous post.

Greetings,
Michele