After my recent blog post about the San Giorgio-class cruisers and the battleship Dante Aligiheri, I began wondering what might have happened if the latter had not been scrapped and had been reconstructed by the Italian Navy.
When the Italians decided to reconstruct and modernise the Conte di Cavour-class battleships (which were only a couple of years newer than the Dante Aligiheri), they:
- Added a new bow section.
- Removed two of the four propeller shafts.
- Replaced the existing Parsons turbines (rated at 32,800shp) with Belluzzo geared steam turbines rated at 75,000 shp.
- Replaced the original twenty water-tube boilers with eight Yarrow boilers.
- Bored out the existing 12-inch guns so that they were now 12.6-inch calibre.
- Removed all the existing secondary guns and replaced them with twelve 4.7-inch guns in six twin-gun turrets, eight 4-inch anti-aircraft guns in twin turrets, and twelve Breda 37mm light anti-aircraft guns in six twin-gun mountings.
- The existing armour was increased and the underwater protection was replaced by the Pugliese system that comprised of a large cylinder (usually surrounded by fuel oil or water) that was intended to absorb any blast from an exploding torpedo warhead.
- The existing superstructure was also removed and replaced with one that incorporated a fire tower atop a completely remodelled bridge and new streamline funnels with caps.
If a similar reconstruction had been applied to the Dante Aligiheri, she may have ended up looking something like this:
My version of the reconstructed Dante Aligiheri would have had a new bow, new boilers and engines, improved protection (both armour and underwater protection), new bridgework, new funnels, and an armament of twelve 12.6-inch guns (with increased elevation) in four triple turrets, eight 4.7-inch guns in four twin turrets, and thirty-six Breda 37mm light anti-aircraft guns in eighteen twin mountings. I would also have expected her top speed to have increased from 22 knots to 25 knots due to her increased engine power.
As reconstructed, this 'new' ship would have been a useful addition to the Italian Navy, especially if she had been deployed to protect the Italian colony in Somaliland. From there, she could have ranged far and wide across the Indian Ocean, and in time of war she could have threatened any enemy nation's trade to south Asia and the Far East. She could have beaten off any likely opponent's cruisers with relative ease and would have required the deployment of at least one aircraft carrier and two or three battleships to hunt her down.
.jpg)
Interesting 'what if'. Care to war game it? The thing might have fetched up with something like this...
ReplyDeletehttps://archdukepiccolo.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-fox-and-hounds-battle-of-river.html
Meanwhile, I've been looking at my teeny-tiny naval fleets to see what might be done with them. The ships were (nearly) all built about 10 or 12 years ago, but finding a suitably sized offcut, I've added a couple of battlecruisers to one fleet that was lacking two of its scheduled battleships. I've been adding aircraft as well.
I'll be writing up something about these fleets once I've got my Sengoku narratives out of the way. I'm finding it hard to write them up!
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteIf I can find some suitable turrets, I might try to build a model of the rebuilt Dante Alighieri. The hull is quite a simple shape and the superstructure isn’t too complicated to replicate.
I remember that excellent battle and look forward to reading more naval battle reports from you … once you’ve completed your current project.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteAn interesting effort, though I doubt that it could actually be done given that she originally displaced about 3,500 tons less than the Conte di Cavour. Even with some extra length added - and your suggested slower speed than the other conversions - I suspect that one of the central turrets would have had to be sacrificed to increase the machinery space (and to contribute a weight saving to make up for the increase in the deck armour). I admit that new machinery and boilers would have a higher power density, but the beam would have been widened and the displacement increased by several thousand tons, so a fairly large rise in the shp would have been needed.
If Italy had the money – which she didn’t at the time – it might be better value to build new in 1931 and scrap the Dante Aligiheri (as per the Washington Treaty, which would still have allowed a new build even though the Dante had been scrapped earlier). By the time Italy started conversions in 1933 there were four bigger and more suitable ships available to convert plus the all new – and very good – Littorio class were soon on the stocks.
As for her utility after conversion, she would still be a second class ship. Her speed would be useful but there is no way she – or for that matter the Conte di Cavour and Andrea Doria class conversions - could fight it out with an R class or a QE. However, the speed increase would just about ensure that she could avoid battle (unless Repulse, Revenge or Hood turned up, and the heavier but fewer guns and thinner armour of the first two of these would make for a very interesting match up). Plus her existence as a conversion probably means no Washington Treaty and much more interesting and overwhelming possible opponents like G3 class battlecruisers,
Mike
Mike Hall (Mike),
DeleteI did look at removing one or both of the central turrets and giving the ship a much more powerful propulsion system. The resulting space could be used for more anti-aircraft guns and/or aircraft storage and a catapult. The ship would then have been a sort of Italian equivalent of the German pocket battleships.
The rebuilt Conte di Cavours and Andrea Dorias were much better than my reconstructed Dante Alighieri … but I enjoyed the mental exercise that comes with from undertaking a ‘What if …?’ ship redesign.
I never envisaged my reconstructed ship as being anything other than a second-class battleship, but had she be stationed somewhere like Italian Somaliland, that would not have been too much of a drawback. As an example of a ‘fleet in being’ in waters that gave her lots of opportunity to threaten Britain’s trade routes, her destruction would have been a priority at a time when the Royal Navy was already rather overstretched.
I’ve throughly enjoyed this discussion and I hope that you have as well.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
DeleteI too have enjoyed this discussion. So much so that I have a few comments re Italian Somaliland.
I think this is a very good choice as a base, a choke point where her relatively short range would not be a disadvantage (and especially dangerous after France is out of the war and Dunkerque and Strasbourg are no longer available to hunt raiders). Though once the Med was closed to through traffic only supplies for the forces in the middle east would be using the Red Sea route.
She should be pretty safe as long as she doesn't have an unfortunate encounter with a Swordfish or a submarine ... I doubt that her torpedo defences would prove very effective given what happened at Taranto. However, finding a carrier for an attack would not be easy (maybe Argus or Hermes?) or someone worried about Dante could have arranged for a few aircraft to be pre positioned in British Somaliland.
Against this one has to remember that in 1940 the Regia Marina's surface forces's attempts at attacks on convoys to Egypt were remarkably unsuccesful and normally simply failed to make contact, plus the RN might have found a spare R class to add to the escorts.
Mike Hall,
DeleteSome years ago I took part in a naval wargame that took place in the seas around Italian Somaliland. It saw a small Italian fleet (including two battleships) being pursued by a Royal Navy squadron that comprised two battleships and an aircraft carrier. The latter’s Swordfish came up trumps and both managed to find the Italians and then slow them down with torpedo hits.
Taking part made me realise just how vulnerable British trade routes in that part of the world were during the Second World War.
As an aside, some years ago I wrote a blog post about the R-class battleships that included a ‘What if …?’ reconstructed version of the class. (https://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-forgotten-battleships-royal-navys-r.html).
All the best,
Bob