Most members here will know, that there were italian aircraft carriers, the Aquila and the Sparviero, the Aquila was almost ready to use at the time of the italian armistice. This is quite an achievement for a country like Italy with a small industrial capacity and already involved in war for 3 years. But: I never heard of italian dive bombers or small torpedo bombers. Which fighers were planned for their carriers?
The air wing consisted of 51 aircraft. The type selected (it had been decided not to develop a plane specifically for this use due to the long development times) was the fighter Reggiane RE-2001. It was a single engine single-seater, which had entered service in 1941 and was powered by a 1,175 HP Daimler Benz (build under license by Alfa Romeo) and capable of a maximum speed of 540 Km/h. Armament consisted of two 12.7 mm and two 7.7 mm guns. Also, the plane had a centrally mounted hook for the installation of a bomb (for the utilization of the plane as a bomber). The version embarked had a substantially modified undercarriage, strengthen for the deck landing and also was equipped with stopping hook. The installation of the 51 planes was a classic example of Italian ingenuity since the hangars could only host 36 planes (respectively 26 and 10), the remaining planes were literally hang from the ceiling thus bringing the total capacity to 51. There was also in the planning the construction of a version of the Re-2001 with folding wings. With this model, the ship would have been able to deploy 66 aircraft. http://regiamarina.net/detail_text.asp?nid=56&lid=1 This is the best I could find on short notice. You can also look here http://forum.worldofwarships.eu/index.php?/topic/974-the-aquila-italian-aircraft-carrier/
That's good info. Thanks. I would think the wider gear of RE-2001 would be a better carrier plane than the navalized T version of the Bf 109.
The Regia Marina had a preference for the Reggiane models, they also put some Re 2000 on the Littorio class battleships though I don't believe they were ever used in combat. I believe there were some plans to adapt the later DB 205 engined Re 2005 as well as by the time the Aquila was ready Re 2001 production was being phased out in favour of the 2005. That might be difficult though as some reports give the 2005 a a weak rear fuselage and an arrester hook would stress it a lot. Hanging planes from the hangar ceiling was not an Italian idea, there are plenty of pictures of US carriers hangars with planes hanging from the ceiling, though I believe those were "spare" planes.
Had they ever put to sea with aircraft triced in the overhead they would have quickly found out what a really bad idea that was. All you get is airplanes raining down on the hangar deck whenever the ship is the recipient of a hard hit, like a bomb or torpedo, in the right place . . . which is just about anywhere. Yes, indeed, there are photos of this practice aboard US carriers, but they, too learned that lesson in 1942. Enterprise, Wasp, and Hornet indulged in this practice, a pre-war cleverness for carrying spare airplanes. Both Hornet and Wasp, in their respective fatal encounters, suffered the problem of raining airplanes and, worse, spreading gasoline from aircraft already on the hangar deck being crushed by same. Enterprise also experienced this problem, but was able to contain the damage. Yorktown did not have the problem because heavy seas of the north Atlantic convinced the powers aboard that aircraft swaying about in the overhead really was not a practice destined for happy outcomes. One might note that after analysis of the damage caused by falling airplanes on Enterprise and their contribution to the losses of Hornet and Wasp that BuShips decreed that this practice would be prohibited aboard carriers in the future. The follow-on Essex class, for example, had no, none, provision for tricing aircraft into the overhead of the hangar deck. R
Found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inH-lXVVtnw additional to the Re 2000/2001 fighters Fiat G.50 Fighter Bomber Saiman 200 Reconnaissance A carrier without Torpedo-/Dive Bombers... Aquila/Sparviero were converted passenger liners, maybe the hangars were higher compared to other carriers?
