GIUSEPPE MIRAGLIA Miraglia was the only Italian carrier to actually see action in World War II, and then only as a seaplane tender to battleships and cruisers. She was launched on December 20, 1923 as the merchantman Citta de Messina and was converted in the mid-1920s. Hangars were installed before and abaft the midships superstructure and two catapults were installed; one over the forecastle and one over the poop. Derricks were used to lift the seaplanes ftom. the hangars. She carried about twenty aircraft and was also armed with four single 4 inch guns. In the mid-1930s 11x14 pdr AA guns were added. SPARVIERO Sparviero began life as the Italian passenger liner Augustus, launched in 1927. In 1942 she was taken over for conversion into an auxiliary aircraft carrier. The modifications to the original design of the liner were limited to the elimination of the superstructure and the addition of a hangar, flight deck, and bulges to improve stability. No island superstructure was planned, so the flight deck would have been flat like many of the Japanese aircraft carriers. It was planned to install 6 single 152mm and 4 single 102mm guns and a number of light AA weapons. She probably would have carried no more than 20 aircraft, and her top speed would have been no greater than her top speed as a liner at 18 knots. Little work had actually been accomplished by the time the Germans seized her in September 1943. AQUII.A When hulls were taken from trade for emergency war conversion, severe rolling in rough seas sometimes occurred when heavy equipment was added to the upper decks. The addition of a large, heavy island superstructure on the side of the hull was one reason it was necessary to add large bulges at the waterline of Aquila to improve her stability (see illustration on the cover). The modifications to Aquila were extensive, resulting in an entirely new ship for all practical purposes. She was fitted with machinery originally intended for the cruisers Aaolo Emilio and Cornelio Silla giving her a top speed of 30 knots. Unlike the projected Sparviero conversion, Aquila would thus have been able to operate with the faster units of the Italian Navy. Catapults were provided by the Germans. Her eight 5.3 inch guns were low-angle weapons for suitable for defense against surface ships. Twelve 65mm guns and 132 20mm weapons were provided for AA defense. The unusual practice of suspending a large number of aircraft overhead in the hangar deck and operating a large deck park most probably would have made the actual handling of the air group a nightmare in combat, particularly since no one in the Italian Navy had any experience operating carriers. The Re 2001 served adequately as a fighter but there was a pressing need for a strike aircraft. This led to a plan to fit some of the Re 2001 aircraft with torpedoes. This variant was called the Re 2001G. Like Sparviero, Aquila never saw service. Among all the Italian carrier projects, Aquila was the only one that had potential. If a sound doctrine had been formulated for her use and she had been handled well , she could have wreaked havoc in the Mediterranean. BT Back to The Naval Sitrep #1 Table of Contents Back to Naval Sitrep List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history and related articles are available at http://www.magweb.com