Italian & French CV premium ships

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

I made this forum see if want Italian &/or French CV as Premium ships. And here they are:

Italian:

Aquila:                                                                                                  
​Crew:1165 & 24 air personnel                                                                 

 

Weight: 28810(28356tons)

Dimensions: 231.5km x 29.4m x 7.3 (759ft 6in x 96ft 5in x 24ft)

Range: 5400km (4150nm) at 18 knots

Armour:Not Fitted

Armament: Eight 135mm (5.3) guns, 36 aircraft

Power plant: 4 shaft geared turbines

32 knots

French:

Béarn:

This help hunt down Admiral Graf Spee

Crew: 875

Weight: 28,854 tonnes (28,400tons)

Dimensions: 182.5m x 27m x 9m (599ft x 88ft x 11in x 30ft 6in)

Range: 14,824km (6000nm) at 10 knots

Armour: 94mm (3.75in) belt, 25mm (1in) flight deck

Armament: Eight 152mm (6in) guns, 40 aircraft

Power plant: 4 screw geared turbines, triple expansion engines

Performance: 21.5 knots

These 2 CV should be place at tier 4 or 5 premiums at least that my option.

[Demon93IT]

Aquila had more planes than that(51 without the folding wings, 66 with folding wings). As far as I recall had some degree of protection for the vital parts but I don't recall at this moment.

 

With this said it's plausible to see them as premium, assuming WG won't bother making a CV line from these nations

[SinqueScheiDeMona]

Outside of the USN/RN/IJN the Marine nationale has the strongest claim to a proper carrier line so I hope WG doesn't sacrifice such for premiums.

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

Aquila had more planes than that(51 without the folding wings, 66 with folding wings). As far as I recall had some degree of protection for the vital parts but I don't recall at this moment.

 

With this said it's plausible to see them as premium, assuming WG won't bother making a CV line from these nations

 

Plz take ur time find out what u can on ur own.

 And I will try look for more Information the 2 CV.

[Demon93IT]

 

Plz take ur time find out what u can on ur own.

 And I will try look for more Information the 2 CV.

 

Aquila has 80 mm maximum around magazine and fuel tanks so she has something as far as protection is concerned(of course nothing too fancy but then again not that strange).

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

Aquila Aircraft carried:

Throughout 1942 and 1943, trials were conducted at Perugia and Guidonia—the Regia Aeronautica′s equivalent to the German Luftwaffe′s test facility at Rechlin—to find aircraft suitable for conversion to carrier use. The Italians selected the SAIMAN 200, Fiat G.50/B and Reggiane Re.2001 OR Serie II as potential candidates.^[6]

In March 1943, German engineers and instructors with experience on Graf Zeppelin arrived to advise on aircraft testing and to help train future carrier pilots culled from 160 Gruppo C.T. of the Regia Aeronautica. They brought with them examples of a Junkers Ju 87C Stuka dive bomber (a navalized version with folding wings, arrester hook and catapult attachment points) and an Arado Ar 96B single-engine trainer. After conducting comparative flight trials, the Italians eventually settled on the Re.2001 as their standard carrier fighter/fighter-bomber and even the Germans concluded it had better potential than their own counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109T. All flight testing—including simulated braked deck landings—was land-based.^[6]

Aquila′s planned air complement was 51 non-folding Reggiane Re.2001 OR fighter-bombers: 41 stowed in the hangar deck (including 15 suspended from the deck head) and 10 on the flight deck in a permanent deck park.^[5] A folding-wing version of the Re.2001 was planned, which would have increased the size of Aquila′s air group to 66 aircraft, but this never materialized. Only 10 Re.2001s were fully converted for carrier use. They were given tail hooks, RTG naval radio equipment and bomb racks for carrying 650 kg (1,430 lb) of bombs. They were also armed with two 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns mounted above the engine cowling. At least one Re.2001G was under test at Perugia as a naval torpedo bomber and was given a lengthened tail wheel strut to accommodate the added height of a torpedo suspended below the fuselage

 

Béarn Aircraft carried:
35-40
1939: 10 × Dewoitine D.373 fighter , 10 × Levasseur PL.7 reconnaissance aircraft and 9 × Levasseur PL.10 torpedo bomber

[SinqueScheiDeMona]

There was horizontal armor over munitions and fuel on Aquila. Appreciably there was no horizontal armor, only thick concrete dams to mitigate torpedo damage. To achieve more than 38 aircraft required folding wing tips, hanging aircraft and a small deck park iirc. Half of the aircraft would be on their way back to airbases before the whole compliment had managed to take off. 

 

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

 

Aquila has 80 mm maximum around magazine and fuel tanks so she has something as far as protection is concerned(of course nothing too fancy but then again not that strange).

 

​So Aquila will have some light armor. Same would be said for Béarn. ​But there speed & play style is like the Bogue (escort CV)  u have to be not to far from ur allies ship to be effective.

[Demon93IT]

 

​So Aquila will have some light armor. Same would be said for Béarn. ​But there speed & play style is like the Bogue (escort CV)  u have to be not to far from ur allies ship to be effective.

Aquila has 151000 hp which could be increased potentially since each engine unit can deliver up to 110000 hp(she had two engine units from two unfinished Capitani Romani).

 

My concern for Aquila(or other Italian CVs for that matter) is the fact Italy in general relied heavily on fighter-bombers. Aquila was supposed to have a single plane capable of fulfilling every role required depending on the loadout so she had the potential to have every single plane on the air as a fighter, as a dive bomber or as a torpedo bomber(plus every single combination in between). That is surely something unique but potentially on the OP side(you could go for fighters only and go yourself on the offensive after the enemy ran out of planes with only dive and torpedo bombers in the air)

 

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

Aquila has 151000 hp which could be increased potentially since each engine unit can deliver up to 110000 hp(she had two engine units from two unfinished Capitani Romani).

 

My concern for Aquila(or other Italian CVs for that matter) is the fact Italy in general relied heavily on fighter-bombers. Aquila was supposed to have a single plane capable of fulfilling every role required depending on the loadout so she had the potential to have every single plane on the air as a fighter, as a dive bomber or as a torpedo bomber(plus every single combination in between). That is surely something unique but potentially on the OP side(you could go for fighters only and go yourself on the offensive after the enemy ran out of planes with only dive and torpedo bombers in the air)

 

 

​Somewhat true on the last part. Much I like my fighters to dominate the sky  over the battlefield. Give more credit to my Dive & trop bombers like example with out using alt my dive bomber inflect more fires, 2nd batters & AA destroy, and knockout or destroy modules and with my Torpedo bomber let's say I'm very good at time my attack were of enemy ship going to turn.  

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

This how Aquila & Bearn will look like in the game follow the link:

Aquila:

http://www.google-earth.es/uploads/forums/cv-aquila_1943-nc90.png

Bearn:

http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/166782FranceCVBearnVII.png

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

Outside of the USN/RN/IJN the Marine national has the strongest claim to a proper carrier line so I hope WG doesn't sacrifice such for premiums.

 

​Well trying something out of lesser power is an idea I'm trying. It doesn't have to be strongest but if get the job done it alright by me.

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

There was horizontal armor over munitions and fuel on Aquila. Appreciably there was no horizontal armor, only thick concrete dams to mitigate torpedo damage. To achieve more than 38 aircraft required folding wing tips, hanging aircraft and a small deck park iirc. Half of the aircraft would be on their way back to airbases before the whole compliment had managed to take off. 

 

​Yea I know this forum is a stretch from the beginning. But this could be inserting in the long run.   

And made a mistake on Aquila plane in the hanger it's 51 like Demon93IT said.

This is Aquila aircraft's:

Throughout 1942 and 1943, trials were conducted at Perugia and Guidonia—the Regia Aeronautica′s equivalent to the German Luftwaffe′s test facility at Rechlin—to find aircraft suitable for conversion to carrier use. The Italians selected the SAIMAN 200, Fiat G.50/B and Reggiane Re.2001 OR Serie II as potential candidates.^[6]

In March 1943, German engineers and instructors with experience on Graf Zeppelin arrived to advise on aircraft testing and to help train future carrier pilots culled from 160 Gruppo C.T. of the Regia Aeronautica. They brought with them examples of a Junkers Ju 87C Stuka dive bomber (a navalized version with folding wings, arrester hook and catapult attachment points) and an Arado Ar 96B single-engine trainer. After conducting comparative flight trials, the Italians eventually settled on the Re.2001 as their standard carrier fighter/fighter-bomber and even the Germans concluded it had better potential than their own counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109T. All flight testing—including simulated braked deck landings—was land-based.^[6]

Aquila′s planned air complement was 51 non-folding Reggiane Re.2001 OR fighter-bombers: 41 stowed in the hangar deck (including 15 suspended from the deck head) and 10 on the flight deck in a permanent deck park.^[5] A folding-wing version of the Re.2001 was planned, which would have increased the size of Aquila′s air group to 66 aircraft, but this never materialized. Only 10 Re.2001s were fully converted for carrier use. They were given tail hooks, RTG naval radio equipment and bomb racks for carrying 650 kg (1,430 lb) of bombs. They were also armed with two 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns mounted above the engine cowling. At least one Re.2001G was under test at Perugia as a naval torpedo bomber and was given a lengthened tail wheel strut to accommodate the added height of a torpedo suspended below the fuselage

[Phoenix_jz]

Well, the Germans are supposed to get Graf Zeppelin as a premium, so I think either of these isn't far fetched at all. 

Also, I know there was supposed to be versions of the FIAT G.55 that would be able to carry torpedoes, but I don't think a Centauro could take off from a carrier...

 

As fighter-bombers, it would certainly make them unique, and possibly even be a national flavor if Italy is allowed to field a full line.

 

I wonder (I have not played CVs enough at all to know how best to balance one), if you put Aquila at a tier where her air complement was outnumbered, but allowed them to sortie as either fighter or bombers, if it would be balanced. So, even if the Aquila player decided to launch all the Re.2001's in fighter mode, it wouldn't be OP and overwhelm the opposing CV. Even if they could not match the number of fighters, they'd still have enough of an advantage in number of aircraft to intercept enough '2001's that they could still get some bombers through.

 

Or, on the other hand, one could arrange it so they launch as dive-bombers, but at any given point they could release their payload and revert into fighters.

 

After all, If I'm not mistaken Aquila's purpose was never to be a strike CV that sent out airstrikes to wipe out enemy CVs or large ships. Her purpose first and foremost was to provide air cover to the Italian fleet.

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

Like I said: I knew this going to be a stretch. But I think the Graf Zeppelin, Aquila, & Béarn going to be ships in the long run.

Here Béarn ​aircraft load out:

Béarn was originally built to accommodate up to 40 aircraft. Her initial complement consisted of a squadron of twelve torpedo bombers, twelve reconnaissance aircraft, and a squadron of eight fighters. The ship's aviation facilities consisted of a 180-meter-long (590 ft) flight deck and three electrically powered elevators; the aft and central elevators were larger and were intended to handle the larger torpedo bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, while the smaller fighters could be lifted by the smaller forward elevator. She had a pair of hangars that were 124-metre (407 ft) long. Below the hangar, there were aircraft maintenance facilities and storage for spare parts. Béarn stored up to 3,530 cubic feet (100 m³) of aviation gasoline and 530 cu ft (15 m³) of oil, which was protected by inert gas.

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

I like to add one CV more if possible?

HMS Furious:

HMS Furious was a modified Courageous-class battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy (RN) during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Lord John Fisher, the ship was very lightly armoured and designed to be armed with only two heavy guns (18-inch), one forward and one aft, plus a number of lesser guns. Furious was modified and became an aircraft carrier while under construction. Her forward turret was removed and a flight deck was added in its place, so that aircraft had to manoeuvre around the superstructure to land. Later in the war, the ship had her rear turret removed and a second flight deck installed aft of the superstructure, but this was less than satisfactory due to air turbulence. Furious was briefly laid up after the war before she was reconstructed with a full-length flight deck in the early 1920s.

After her conversion, Furious was used extensively for trials of naval aircraft and later as a training carrier once the new armoured carriers like Ark Royal entered service in the late 1930s. During the early months of the Second World War the carrier spent her time hunting for German raiders in the North Atlantic and escorting convoys. This changed dramatically during the Norwegian Campaign in early 1940 when her aircraft provided air support to British troops ashore in addition to attacking German shipping. The first of what would be a large number of aircraft ferry missions was made by the carrier during the campaign. After the withdrawal of British troops in May, Furious made several anti-shipping strikes in Norway with little result before beginning a steady routine of ferrying aircraft for the Royal Air Force.

At first Furious made several trips to West Africa, but she began to ferry aircraft to Gibraltar in 1941. An unsuccessful attack on German-occupied ports on the Arctic Ocean interrupted the ferry missions in mid-1941. Furious was given a lengthy refit in the United States and spent a few months training after her return in April 1942. She made several more ferry trips in mid-1942 before her aircraft attacked airfields in Vichy French Algeria as part of the opening stages of Operation Torch in November 1942. The ship remained in the Mediterranean until February 1943 when she was transferred to the Home Fleet.

Furious spent most of 1943 training, but made a number of attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz and other targets in Norway during the first half of 1944. By September 1944, the ship was showing her age and she was placed in reserve. Furious was decommissioned in April 1945, but was not sold for scrap until 1948.

36 Aircraft is difficult choosing between WW1 & WW2:

WW1: On 2 August 1917, while performing trials, Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning landed a Sopwith Pup, believed to have been N6453, successfully on board Furious, becoming the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship. On 7 August, he made one more successful landing in the same manner, but on his third attempt, in Pup N6452, the engine choked and the aircraft crashed off the starboard bow, killing him. The deck arrangement was unsatisfactory because aircraft had to manoeuvre around the superstructure in order to land.

In the meantime, all three Courageous-class ships were assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron (CS) in October 1917 when the Admiralty received word of German ship movements on 16 October, possibly indicating a raid. Admiral Beatty, commander of the Grand Fleet, ordered most of his light cruisers and destroyers to sea in an effort to locate the enemy ships. Furious was detached from the 1st CS and ordered to sweep along the 56th parallel as far as 4° East and to return before dark. Her half-sisters Courageous and Glorious were not initially ordered to sea, but were sent to reinforce the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron patrolling the central part of the North Sea later that day. Two German Brummer-class light cruisers managed to slip through the gaps in the British patrols and destroyed the Scandinavia convoy during the morning of 17 October, but no word was received of the engagement until that afternoon. The 1st CS was ordered to attempt to intercept the German ships, but they proved to be faster than hoped and the British ships were unsuccessful.

Furious returned to the dockyard in November to have the aft turret removed and replaced by another deck for landing, giving her both a launching and a recovery deck. Two lifts (elevators) serving the hangars were also installed. Furious was recommissioned on 15 March 1918, and her embarked aircraft were used on anti-Zeppelin patrols in the North Sea after May. In July 1918, she flew off seven Sopwith Camels which participated in the Tondern raid, attacking the Zeppelin sheds there with moderate success.

WW2: Furious remained on training duties, combined with anti-submarine sweeps off the east coast of Scotland until 2 October 1939.^[ She was then assigned to the Home Fleet to replace the sunken Courageous and embarked nine Swordfish aircraft from 816 Squadron^] and a detachment of three more Swordfish from 818 Squadron. The ship sortied on 8 October with the fleet to unsuccessfully hunt for the German battleship Gneisenau and escorting ships which had been spotted off southern Norway.^] After returning from this search, Furious departed her berth adjacent to the battleship Royal Oak in Scapa Flow for more futile searches for German ships on 13 October, the day before Royal Oak was sunk by U-47. Afterwards she was transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she and the battlecruiser Repulse formed a hunting group for German raiders. Furious served as the flagship for the convoy bringing most of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to Britain in mid-December 1939. In the darkness on 17 December, the west-bound ocean liner SS Samaria passed through the convoy unseen. She ripped off the horizontal wireless masts on Furious's starboard side, carried away five overhanging lifeboats from the port side of RMS Aquitania, and just missed the third and fourth ships in line.  Follow the link to the image:

^​//www.bing.com/images/search?q=hms+furious&view=detailv2&&id=69E96670FFE767A66CC5111AC86FCB23BA0446E8&selectedIndex=131&ccid=U8dP6I4Q&simid=608027070948708235&thid=OIP.M53c74fe88e10094412530a7fd5c3350ao0&ajaxhist=0​

 

 

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

I'm really trying not let this forum to die out here.

This how Aquila & Bearn will look like in the game follow the link:

Aquila:

http://www.google-earth.es/uploads/forums/cv-aquila_1943-nc90.png

Bearn:

http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/166782FranceCVBearnVII.png

 

Let's try this image thing again:

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

I like to add one CV more if possible?

HMS Furious:

HMS Furious was a modified Courageous-class battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy (RN) during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Lord John Fisher, the ship was very lightly armoured and designed to be armed with only two heavy guns (18-inch), one forward and one aft, plus a number of lesser guns. Furious was modified and became an aircraft carrier while under construction. Her forward turret was removed and a flight deck was added in its place, so that aircraft had to manoeuvre around the superstructure to land. Later in the war, the ship had her rear turret removed and a second flight deck installed aft of the superstructure, but this was less than satisfactory due to air turbulence. Furious was briefly laid up after the war before she was reconstructed with a full-length flight deck in the early 1920s.

After her conversion, Furious was used extensively for trials of naval aircraft and later as a training carrier once the new armoured carriers like Ark Royal entered service in the late 1930s. During the early months of the Second World War the carrier spent her time hunting for German raiders in the North Atlantic and escorting convoys. This changed dramatically during the Norwegian Campaign in early 1940 when her aircraft provided air support to British troops ashore in addition to attacking German shipping. The first of what would be a large number of aircraft ferry missions was made by the carrier during the campaign. After the withdrawal of British troops in May, Furious made several anti-shipping strikes in Norway with little result before beginning a steady routine of ferrying aircraft for the Royal Air Force.

At first Furious made several trips to West Africa, but she began to ferry aircraft to Gibraltar in 1941. An unsuccessful attack on German-occupied ports on the Arctic Ocean interrupted the ferry missions in mid-1941. Furious was given a lengthy refit in the United States and spent a few months training after her return in April 1942. She made several more ferry trips in mid-1942 before her aircraft attacked airfields in Vichy French Algeria as part of the opening stages of Operation Torch in November 1942. The ship remained in the Mediterranean until February 1943 when she was transferred to the Home Fleet.

Furious spent most of 1943 training, but made a number of attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz and other targets in Norway during the first half of 1944. By September 1944, the ship was showing her age and she was placed in reserve. Furious was decommissioned in April 1945, but was not sold for scrap until 1948.

36 Aircraft is difficult choosing between WW1 & WW2:

WW1: On 2 August 1917, while performing trials, Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning landed a Sopwith Pup, believed to have been N6453, successfully on board Furious, becoming the first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship. On 7 August, he made one more successful landing in the same manner, but on his third attempt, in Pup N6452, the engine choked and the aircraft crashed off the starboard bow, killing him. The deck arrangement was unsatisfactory because aircraft had to manoeuvre around the superstructure in order to land.

In the meantime, all three Courageous-class ships were assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron (CS) in October 1917 when the Admiralty received word of German ship movements on 16 October, possibly indicating a raid. Admiral Beatty, commander of the Grand Fleet, ordered most of his light cruisers and destroyers to sea in an effort to locate the enemy ships. Furious was detached from the 1st CS and ordered to sweep along the 56th parallel as far as 4° East and to return before dark. Her half-sisters Courageous and Glorious were not initially ordered to sea, but were sent to reinforce the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron patrolling the central part of the North Sea later that day. Two German Brummer-class light cruisers managed to slip through the gaps in the British patrols and destroyed the Scandinavia convoy during the morning of 17 October, but no word was received of the engagement until that afternoon. The 1st CS was ordered to attempt to intercept the German ships, but they proved to be faster than hoped and the British ships were unsuccessful.

Furious returned to the dockyard in November to have the aft turret removed and replaced by another deck for landing, giving her both a launching and a recovery deck. Two lifts (elevators) serving the hangars were also installed. Furious was recommissioned on 15 March 1918, and her embarked aircraft were used on anti-Zeppelin patrols in the North Sea after May. In July 1918, she flew off seven Sopwith Camels which participated in the Tondern raid, attacking the Zeppelin sheds there with moderate success.

WW2: Furious remained on training duties, combined with anti-submarine sweeps off the east coast of Scotland until 2 October 1939.^[ She was then assigned to the Home Fleet to replace the sunken Courageous and embarked nine Swordfish aircraft from 816 Squadron^] and a detachment of three more Swordfish from 818 Squadron. The ship sortied on 8 October with the fleet to unsuccessfully hunt for the German battleship Gneisenau and escorting ships which had been spotted off southern Norway.^] After returning from this search, Furious departed her berth adjacent to the battleship Royal Oak in Scapa Flow for more futile searches for German ships on 13 October, the day before Royal Oak was sunk by U-47. Afterwards she was transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she and the battlecruiser Repulse formed a hunting group for German raiders. Furious served as the flagship for the convoy bringing most of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to Britain in mid-December 1939. In the darkness on 17 December, the west-bound ocean liner SS Samaria passed through the convoy unseen. She ripped off the horizontal wireless masts on Furious's starboard side, carried away five overhanging lifeboats from the port side of RMS Aquitania, and just missed the third and fourth ships in line.  Follow the link to the image:

^​//www.bing.com/images/search?q=hms+furious&view=detailv2&&id=69E96670FFE767A66CC5111AC86FCB23BA0446E8&selectedIndex=131&ccid=U8dP6I4Q&simid=608027070948708235&thid=OIP.M53c74fe88e10094412530a7fd5c3350ao0&ajaxhist=0​

 

 

OK scrape this HMS Furious trying this on another forum.

Let's try Aquila sister ship: Sparviero the ship never finish.

In 1936, a project to transform the 30,418 GRT ocean liner Augustus into an auxiliary carrier was prepared. The idea was initially abandoned but then resumed in 1942. The passenger ship Augustus was first renamed Falco and then to Sparviero.

The superstructure was to be removed. She would have also been equipped with a single hangar with two lifts and fitted with a flight deck that ended 45 meters before the bow. She would have had a narrow flight deck. Her air group was to be either 34 fighters or 16 fighters and 9 torpedo bombers.^{[citation needed]} The propulsion plant was to remain unchanged, the diesels giving an estimated speed of under 20 knots.

The conversion began in September 1942, the work undertaken by the Ansaldo Shipyard in Genoa. Apart from removing the superstructure little else was done before the Italian capitulation. The hull was captured by the Germans and was sunk on 5 October 1944 to block access to the port of Genoa. The wreckage was recovered after the war and finally scrapped in 1951.

Like the Sparviero, the Italian aircraft carrier Aquila, a modification of the sister ship of the Augustus, SS Roma, was scuttled and scrapped before the conversion into the aircraft carrier was finished. These two ships were the last attempts to build aircraft carriers for the Italian Navy until 1981, when work began on the Giuseppe Garibaldi.

 

 

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

 

Name	No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Béarn		F C de la Méditerranée, La Seyne	10/1/1914	15/4/1920	6/1927	FNFL 6/1943, aircraft transport 3/1945, submarine depot ship early 1950s, stricken 11/1966

 

Displacement standard, t	22146
Displacement full, t	28400
Length, m	170.6 pp 182.6 oa
Breadth, m	27.1 wl 31.0 fd
Draught, m	9.30
No of shafts	4
Machinery	2 Parsons steam turbines, 2 VTE, 6 Normand du Temple boilers
Power, h. p.	22500 + 15000 = 37500
Max speed, kts	21.5
Fuel, t	oil 2160
Endurance, nm(kts)	7000(10)
Armour, mm	main belt: 80, flight deck: 24, upper hangar deck: 24, lower hangar deck: 60 - 28, casemates: 70 - 24
Armament	8 x 1 - 155/50 M1920, 6 x 1 - 75/50 M1924, 4 - 550 TT (beam), 16 x 1 - 8/80, 40 aircraft (D.1 fighters, P.L.5 fighters-recon planes, P.L.2 torpedo bombers, E.T.1 recon planes, F.B.A.17 amphibious planes)
Complement	865

Aircraft facilities (fd - 4,860m², ha - 4,182m² / ~20,500m³): Flight deck: 180.0x27.0m. Upper hangar: 124.5x19.5xm, lower hangar: 98x18m. There were 3 lifts, fore and amidships were 15.3x15.7m, aft was 8.2x12.2m. There were no catapults. Aircraft fuel stowage: 328 000l.

     

Year	fighters	torpedo bombers	diving bombers
9/1939	20 D.373	5 P.L.7	---
early 1940	---	---	40 LN401 and V-156-F

Ship project history: Laid down as battleship of Normandie class. To execute decisions of Washington Naval Conference she was rebuilt to aircraft carrier. Works were begun in August, 1923. Battle value of the ship was sharply reduced by insufficient area of a flight deck that ensured simultaneous usage of no more than 10-12 aircrafts.

By the end of 1930th Béarn was unique aircraft carrier with torpedo tubes (according to some sources, they were removed only late 1939), and was considered too slow for operations with a fleet. In 1939 decision on her conversion to seaplane depot ship with preservation of possibility of basing of wheeled aircrafts was accepted.

Ship protection: 80mm main belt had 83m length. Also flight, upper hangar and lower hangar decks were protected by 24, 24 and 60-28mm armour respectively. 155mm guns were placed in casemates with 70mm armour.

Modernizations: 1935: - 4 x 1 - 8/80; + 8 x 1 - 37/50 M1925

(autumn 1943 - 3/1945, New Orleans, USA): ship was converted to aircraft transport, flight deck was shortened, its breadth rose to 35.2m, fuel stowage was increased to 4500t, amidships lift was removed. Complement was 651. Radars were installed. Fully new artillery consisted of 4 x 1 - 127/38 Mk 12, 6 x 4 - 40/56 Mk 1/2, 26 x 1 - 20/70 Mk 4

Naval service: In a beginning of war Béarn served as an aircraft transport for transportation of the aircrafts bought in the USA. Her four squadrons of diving bombers were based ashore. In the late 1939 she carried to the USA 250t of gold in payment for deliveries. During the second route (19/5-1/6/1940) Béarn carried to Canadian Halifax 3880 boxes with a part of French gold (194t).

At the moment of armistice signing Béarn was at Fort-de-France (Martinique) and under the agreement was disarmed 1/5/1942.

30/6/1943 Government of Martinique recognised the Algerian Government and Béarn has passed to the USA for repair. Since autumn of 1943 till March, 1945 works on her conversion to aircraft transport proceeded: flight deck was shortened, central elevator was removed, modern electronic equipment was installed. She carried troops and equipment in Atlantic and Indian oceans.

That was Béarn

 

[anonym_xe9Liq3xS1K1]

Aquila

Name	No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Aquila (ex-Roma)		Ansaldo, Genoa	30/11/1924	26/2/1926	9/1926 // ---	conversion incomplete

 

Displacement standard, t	23130
Displacement full, t	28350
Length, m	207.4 pp 232.5 max
Breadth, m	29.4 wl 30.1 fd
Draught, m	7.31 mean
No of shafts	4
Machinery	Beluzzo geared steam turbines, 8 Thornycroft boilers
Power, h. p.	151000
Max speed, kts	29.5
Fuel, t	oil 3600
Endurance, nm(kts)	5500(18)
Armour, mm	belt: 600 (concrete), magazines: 80 - 60, steering gear: 30
Armament	8 x 1 - 135/45 Ansaldo 1938, 12 x 1 - 65/64 Ansaldo-Terni 1939, 22 x 6 - 20/65 Breda 1941, 2 catapults, 51 aircraft (Re.2001)
Sensors	EC-3/ter radar
Complement	1408

Aircraft facilities (fd - 5,470m², ha - 2,880m² / ~ 15,800m³): Flight deck: 216.2x25.3m. Hangar: 160.0x18.0m. Two elevators, each (15.2x14.3m, 6.5t). There were 2 catapults of K-252 type. Aircraft fuel stowage: 327000l.

     

Year	fighters
1943 (planned)	51 Re.2001 or 66 Re.2001G

Ship project history: Former passenger liner Roma (32583BRT). Still in the mid-thirties this ship was planned to convert to seaplane carrier, capable to launch, besides seaplanes, and deck planes which after fulfilment of their tasks will land on the coastal airfields. For some reasons the project remained non-realised, and they have returned to idea of creation of aircraft carrier only after air raid to Taranto 11/11/1940. In January, 1941 working out of the project of an aircraft carrier on the basis of the liner hull was begun.

Conversion of Roma, renamed Aquila in February, 1942, had cardinal character. The ship hull has been lengthened, equipped by bulges and clipper bow. For stability and underwater protection improvement internal part of the bulges adjoining the hull, was filled by concrete. Inside the hull was thoroughly re-planned, receiving a number of longitudinal bulkheads. Machinery was completely redesigned, having borrowed turbines and boilers from incomplete light cruisers Cornelio Silla and Paolo Emilio. "Pseudo-chess" machinery arrangement has been applied to damage tolerance raise: in each compartment on one side from centre line stood on one turbine set, and on another two boilers.

Above an upper deck the former liner was completely rebuilt. New projected long superstructure, in which the hangar was positioned (160x18m), formed the basis for a flight deck (216.2x25.3m). From a hangar aircrafts were lifted by two elevators. All special aviation equipment (catapults, arresting gears and elevators) were German origin.

Aquila in plans of the Italian command should play the role of "air defence umbrella" of battle forces in the high sea, therefore fighters should become her main armament. That at the moment of project drawing up in Italy there were no special deck planes, as a provisional measure basing of Re.2001 fighter-bombers with non-folding wings was provided. Thus in a hangar there were hold only 26 aircrafts, 15 more it was supposed to carry in the same place, having hanged under a deckhead. 10 more fighters it was planed to carry directly on a flight deck. In case of adoption of developed variant Re.2001G with folding wings the air group should be increased to 66 aircrafts, and all of them could be in a hangar.

Artillery consisted of 135mm single-purpose guns, removed from incomplete cruisers of Capitani Romani class.

Conversion works were started in June, 1941. By September, 1943 availability of the ship made 80%. She was captured by German troops at Genoa. Aquila was damaged by Allied aircraft 16/6/1944, again seriously damaged by Chariots human torpedoes (Italian crewed) 19/4/1945 and scuttled by Germans. She was raised in 1949 and sold for scrap in 1951.

Ship protection: Inner compartments of new built bulges were filled by concrete (600mm layer). Magazines and steering gear had box-shaped protection.