WesWorld

It appears that our government has been feeding us, the people of Italy, plainly false information after this picture was "liberated". Clearly marked on the rear are the words FINAL DESIGN F35-02/1921. It seems that our country is not going to go with the 15" gun and is instead retreating to a smaller calibre. Is this wise considering that the new Hellenic ship mounts 14" guns? Also we ask our government not to forget that the Hellenic navy has also been rumoured to have procured 15" guns from Australia. Are those guns just going to sit there or will they be used? If used on the Salamis class we face losing control of the Eastern Med for many years to come.

The Sicilia class was originally planned as a 2 ship class. However due to economic constraints this has been shortened to a single ship. Obviously this puts less strain on our economy but it is wise to put ourselves at risk by fielding only 3 'modern' ships? And what of the position with Italian cruisers? A handful of light cruisers is all that stands between lucrative trade routes and unseen enemies.

The poor people of Italy, having to deal with a government that is either hiding the truth or waging an active dis-information campaign.

Don't suppose anybody liberated a springstyle report to accompany this pic?

So Sardegna's just been laid down and now she's cancelled again?

MM Sardegna was laid down but cancelled before any work was done on the hull. Seems that the order for the 15"/50 guns was only cut to 2 instead of been dropped to 0. They would seem to be useful for future developments...

A springstyle report "liberated" at the same time;

F38-02/1921

Displacement:
34,305 t light; 36,425 t standard; 39,355 t normal; 41,541 t full load
Loading submergence 1,486 tons/feet

Dimensions:
720.00 ft x 106.00 ft x 32.00 ft (normal load)
219.46 m x 32.31 m x 9.75 m

Armament:
9 - 15.00" / 381 mm guns (3 Main turrets x 3 guns, 1 superfiring turret)
Main turrets are grouped together
12 - 5.12" / 130 mm guns (6 2nd turrets x 2 guns)
16 - 0.79" / 20 mm AA guns
Weight of broadside 15,996 lbs / 7,256 kg

Armour:
Belt 14.96" / 380 mm, ends unarmoured
Belts cover 90 % of normal area
Main turrets 15.75" / 400 mm, 2nd turrets 1.97" / 50 mm
Armour deck 5.91" / 150 mm, Conning tower 2.95" / 75 mm
Torpedo bulkhead 1.18" / 30 mm

Machinery:
Oil fired boilers, steam turbines,
Geared drive, 4 shafts, 115,683 shp / 86,300 Kw = 28.00 kts
Range 9,000nm at 15.00 kts

Complement:
1,397 - 1,816

Cost:
£8.751 million / $35.005 million

Distribution of weights at normal displacement:
Armament: 1,999 tons, 5.1 %
Armour: 13,666 tons, 34.7 %
Belts: 3,337 tons, 8.5 %, Armament: 3,920 tons, 10.0 %, Armour Deck: 5,681 tons, 14.4 %
Conning Tower: 74 tons, 0.2 %, Torpedo bulkhead: 654 tons, 1.7 %
Machinery: 3,984 tons, 10.1 %
Hull, fittings & equipment: 14,606 tons, 37.1 %
Fuel, ammunition & stores: 5,050 tons, 12.8 %
Miscellaneous weights: 50 tons, 0.1 %

Metacentric height 6.0

Remarks:
Hull space for machinery, storage & compartmentation is adequate
Room for accommodation & workspaces is excellent

Estimated overall survivability and seakeeping ability:
Relative margin of stability: 1.05
Shellfire needed to sink: 39,320 lbs / 17,835 Kg = 23.3 x 15.0 " / 381 mm shells
(Approx weight of penetrating shell hits needed to sink ship excluding critical hits)
Torpedoes needed to sink: 5.4
(Approx number of typical torpedo hits needed to sink ship)
Relative steadiness as gun platform: 64 %
(Average = 50 %)
Relative rocking effect from firing to beam: 0.52
Relative quality as seaboat: 1.07

Hull form characteristics:
Block coefficient: 0.564
Sharpness coefficient: 0.40
Hull speed coefficient 'M': 6.48
'Natural speed' for length: 26.83 kts
Power going to wave formation at top speed: 52 %
Trim: 60
(Maximise stabilty/flotation = 0, Maximise steadiness/seakeeping = 100)

Estimated hull characteristics & strength:
Underwater volume absorbed by magazines and engineering spaces: 89.7 %
Relative accommodation and working space: 141.8 %
(Average = 100%)
Displacement factor: 104 %
(Displacement relative to loading factors)
Relative cross-sectional hull strength: 0.96
(Structure weight / hull surface area: 201 lbs / square foot or 980 Kg / square metre)
Relative longitudinal hull strength: 1.33
(for 20.00 ft / 6.10 m average freeboard, freeboard adjustment 0.08 ft)
Relative composite hull strength: 1.00



And yes, those poor, poor Italian people.