Italian WoWS Tech Tree Part 14: Carriers

Daemon93 begun again working on his project, the Italian WoWS tech tree! Just in time for my birthday, haha!

CARRIERS

NOTE: i will consider the ship themselves alone without considering the planes. I will make another topic on the planes themselves, guestimating which planes would be used for which ship.

IV: Sparviero

Story

For quite some time both Mussolini and Supermarina never considered the carriers as useful asset, considering the land bases sufficient. After the victories achieved by the British thanks to their carriers(Taranto and Matapan the two with the biggest impact) finally they decided to develop carriers to support the fleet. Since there wasn’t time to build a carrier from scratch the engineers had to develop designs from existing hulls. Two liners were chosen to be converted: Roma and Augustus. Augustus, renamed Sparviero, had a more conservative conversion: the propulsion system remained the same(based on four diesel engines generating 28.000 hp in total) while the superstructure was removed to make room for the flight deck. She had only one hangar and two elevators and no island was placed. The construction started in September 1942 and very little was done by the time of the Armistice. She was then captured by the Germans to be scuttled in 5/10/1944 in the port of Genoa. After WWII she was raised and scrapped.

Technical data

Standard displacement: 23000 tons

Length: 202.4(water line)

Beam: 25 m(water line), 30 m max

Draught: 9.2 m

Installed power: 28000 hp

Maximum speed: 18 knots

Protection:

Armament: 6×152/45, 4×1 102/35, some AA

VIII: Aquila

Story

The origin of Aquila is in common with the Sparviero. Originally Aquila was the liner Roma but the conversion was much more drastic compared to the sister ship. There were many changes structurally speaking to improve stability and protection(clipper bow, increased ship length, torpedo bulges filled with concrete, the bulkheads were rearranged). Another improvement over the half sister is on the machinery which was changed and replaced by the machinery of two Capitani Romani-class(Cornelio Silla and Paolo Emilio), although the combined output was toned down to 151000 hp. Other advantages Aquila had over Sparviero are the presence of the island, a higher amount of planes carried and a high number of AA guns. The conversion started in 1941 and by the time of the Armistice she was pretty much complete(the work on her was slowed down due to Allied air raids). Shew was captured by the Germans, damaged multiple times(by Allied bombers and Italian frogmen) and finally scuttled at the end of the war. She was raised in the late ’40s and then sold for scrap.

Technical data

Standard displacement: 21230 tons

Full load displacement: 28350 tons

Length: 207.4 m(water line), 232.5 m(overall length)

Beam: 29.4 m(water line), 30.1 m max

Draught: 7.31

Installed power: 151000 hp

Maximum speed: 30 knots

Protection:

Armament: 8×1 135/45, 12×1 65/64, 22×6 20/65