Littorio was an Italian
Vittorio Veneto class
battleshipA battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers or destroyers. There are currently no battleships in service....
that served in the
Regia MarinaThe Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was named after the
LictorThe lictor, derived from the Latin ligare , was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant, with special tasks of attending and guarding magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium; essentially, a bodyguard...
("
Littorio" in Italian), in ancient times the bearer of the Roman
fascesFasces symbolize summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity"...
, which was adopted as the symbol of Italian
FascismFascism, , comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy. Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in...
.
Construction
Her keel was laid down in 1934 at the
AnsaldoAnsaldo was one of Italy's oldest and most important engineering companies, existing for 140 years from 1853 to 1993.-From foundation to World War I:...
shipyards in
GenoaGenoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000...
; she was launched in 1937, and her construction was completed in 1940, after Italy entered in war against France and United Kingdom. With the fall of Fascism, she was renamed
Italia. After the war she was taken by the United States as war compensation, but was scrapped in 1948.
Vittorio Veneto class was designed by General Umberto Pugliese, and was the first class of battleship to exceed the limits of the
Washington TreatyThe Treaty of Washington may refer to:* Treaty of Washington , between the Federal government and the Creek National Council* Treaty of Washington , between the Federal government and the Creek National Council led by Opothleyahola....
(35,000 tons of displacement).
Actions
On 1 September 1940,
Littorio participated in Operation
Hats, followed by Operation MB 5 on 29 September. The battleship was in Taranto harbour during the
Battle of TarantoThe naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11 November 1940 – 12 November 1940 during World War II. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft naval attack in history, flying a small number of aircraft from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea and attacking the Italian...
on 11 November 1940, during which she received three torpedo hits, which caused relatively minor damage requiring five months repairs.
After repairs,
Littorio participated in the attack of the Allied convoy
Albert on 27 September 1941. The convoy was transporting supplies to the island of
MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
. On 17 December, she took part in the
First Battle of SirteThe First Battle of Sirte was a naval battle between the Royal Navy and the Italian Royal Navy during the Mediterranean campaign of World War II....
. She was assigned to the distant covering force for the convoy M42, which was bound for North Africa, carrying supplies for
Rommel'sErwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , was perhaps the most famous German Field Marshal of World War II....
Afrika KorpsThe German Afrika Korps was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
.
Littorio, along with the rest of the distant covering force, engaged a British flotilla of surface raiders, and drove them off.
On 3 January 1942,
Littorio was again tasked with convoy escort, in support of M 43. On 22 March, she participated in the
Second Battle of SirteThe Second Battle of Sirte was a naval engagement in which the escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta frustrated a much more powerful Italian Navy squadron. The British convoy was composed of four merchant ships escorted by four light cruisers, one anti-aircraft cruiser, and eighteen...
, as the flagship for an Italian force attempting to destroy a British convoy bound for Malta. During the battle,
Littorio struck the destroyers
HMS HavockHMS Havock was an H-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy laid down by William Denny, Brothers and Company, Limited, of Dumbarton in Scotland on 15 May 1935, launched on 7 July 1936 and commissioned on 18 January 1937....
and
KingstonHMS Kingston was a K-class destroyer of the Royal Navy laid down by J. Samuel White and Company at Cowes on the Isle of Wight on 6 October 1937, launched on 9 January 1939 and commissioned on 14 September 1939....
with her main guns, nearly destroying the
Kingston, which managed to limp back to Malta the following morning. Three months later, on 15 June,
Littorio participated in the interception of the
VigorousOperation Vigorous was a World War II Allied operation to deliver a supply convoy that sailed from Haifa and Port Said on 12 June 1942 to Malta. The convoy encountered heavy Axis air and sea opposition and returned to Alexandria on 16 June....
convoy to Malta. During the return to port,
Littorio was struck by a torpedo dropped by a British
WellingtonThe Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
bomber, but the ship was able to return to port for repairs.
On 30 July 1943,
Littorio was renamed to
Italia. After the 8 September armistice, she was stationed in the
Great Bitter LakeThe Great Bitter Lake is a salt water lake between the north and south part of the Suez Canal. It is adjoined by the Small Bitter Lake . Together, the Bitter Lakes have a surface area of about 250 km²...
in
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
until the end of the war. The ship, along with the rest of the Italian fleet, was formally surrendered to the Allies the following day, on 9 September.
Littorio participated in 46 war missions, 9 of which were enemy hunting and 3 were as an escort.
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