Caracciolo class vessel completed!
At long last after many years the first battleship of the Caracciolo class has been completed. The nameship was greeted with many cheers from our patriotic Italian citoyens as she steamed gracefully out of Messina where her sistership, Cristoforto Columbo is still building.
The comissioning of Caracciolo nearly coincides with the comissioning of a Russian class of battleship, and comparisons have been made about both ships;
I .The Imperator Petr Veliki Class Battleships are 5,000t larger than ours, why is this?
A .Errrr....(hesistation), let's examine what they gain from those 5,000t, shall we?
I .Yes ok. Are they better?
A . To put it bluntly, i don't know if they are better, the only advantage visible is the 12x15" guns to Caracciolo's 8x15". The Armour schemes seem to be very similar, but Caracciolo has a decisive 3knt speed advantage....
I . How decisive could that be?
A . Well it may be possible for Caracciolo to hold the range where her belt can't be penetrated, then she can drop her heavy shells onto the Russian battleships deck. But still 3knts really isn't a huge advantage...
I . Thank you for that hypothetical evaluation.
New ships laid down!
3 new ships were laid down in October this year, MM Astraea, MM Sicilia and MM Sardegna. MM Astraea is to use the 10"/45 guns from San Marco and San Giorgio and is expected to displace around 8,000t. Details of the other 2 ships are sketchy, but more details should be made availiable later.