Italian battleship Roma (1940)

History
Kingdom of Italy
Name	Roma
Namesake	Rome
Ordered	1937
Builder	Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico
Laid down	18 September 1938
Launched	9 June 1940
Commissioned	14 June 1942
In service	21 August 1942
Fate	Sunk 9 September 1943 by German aircraft
General characteristics
Class and type	Littorio-class battleship
Displacement	Full load: 45,485 long tons (46,215 t)
Length	240.68 m (789 ft 8 in) loa
Beam	32.82 m (107 ft 8 in)
Draft	9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
Installed power	8 × Yarrow boilers 128,000 shp (95,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × steam turbines 4 × screw propellers
Speed	30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement	1,830–1,950
Armament	9 × 381 mm (15 in) guns 12 × 152 mm (6 in) guns 4 × 120 mm (4.7 in)/40 guns 12 × 90 mm (3.5 in) anti-aircraft guns 20 × 37 mm (1.5 in) guns 20 × 20 mm (0.79 in) guns
Armor	Belt: 350 mm (13.8 in) Deck: 162 mm (6 in) Turrets: 350 mm Conning tower: 260 mm (10 in)
Aircraft carried	3 × aircraft (IMAM Ro.43 or Reggiane Re.2000)
Aviation facilities	1 × catapult

Roma, named after two previous ships and the city of Rome,^{[N 1]} was the third Littorio-class battleship of Italy's Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The construction of both Roma and her sister ship Impero was due to rising tensions around the world and the navy's fear that only two Littorios, even in company with older pre-First World War battleships, would not be enough to counter the British and French Mediterranean Fleets. As Roma was laid down almost four years after the first two ships of the class, some small improvements were made to the design, including additional freeboard added to the bow.

Roma was commissioned into the Regia Marina on 14 June 1942, but a severe fuel shortage in Italy at that time prevented her from being deployed; instead, along with her sister ships Vittorio Veneto and Littorio, she was used to bolster the anti-aircraft defenses of various Italian cities. In this role, she was severely damaged twice in June 1943, from bomber raids on La Spezia. After repairs in Genoa through all of July and part of August, Roma was deployed as the flagship of Admiral Carlo Bergamini in a large battle group that eventually comprised the three Littorios, eight cruisers and eight destroyers. The battle group was scheduled to attack the Allied ships approaching Salerno to invade Italy (Operation "Avalanche") on 9 September 1943, but the news of the 8 September 1943 armistice with the Allies led to the operation being cancelled. The Italian fleet was instead ordered to sail to La Maddalena (Sardinia) and subsequently to Malta to surrender to the Allies.

While the force was in the Strait of Bonifacio, Dornier Do 217s of the German Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 100—armed with Fritz X radio-controlled bombs—sighted the force. The first attack failed, but the second dealt Italia (ex-Littorio) and Roma severe damage. The hit on Roma caused water to flood two boiler rooms and the aft engine room, leaving the ship to limp along with two propellers, reduced power, and arc-induced fires in the stern of the ship. Shortly thereafter, another bomb slammed into the ship and detonated within the forward engine room, causing catastrophic flooding and the explosion of the number two main turret's magazines, throwing the turret itself into the sea. Sinking by the bow and listing to starboard, Roma capsized and broke in two, carrying 1,393 men—including Bergamini—down with her.

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