RN Roma 2/2

Olasz csatahajó

On September 8, 1943 the Roma, together with part of the Italian fleet, set off from La Spezia to surrender to the Allies in the aftermath of the Armistice with Italy. It was the flagship of the fleet's commander, admiral Carlo Bergamini. The commander of the ship was Adone Del Cima. The fleet included two other battleships, Vittorio Veneto and Italia (former Littorio), three cruisers and eight destroyers (others joined later in the course of the cruise).The following day the ships were intercepted near the Asinara island (northern Sardinia) by 12 German Dornier Do 217K-2s from the III. Gruppe of KG100, which had taken off from Istres, near Marseille.Pietro Badoglio had ordered to open fire only after being attacked, and the order was initially respected. However, when the fleet finally opened anti-aircraft fire, it was clear that the German planes were keeping themselves outside the Italian guns (5,000 m), too far for a conventional bombing mission.The first ship to be hit by the new weapons was the Italia, which however kept her pace. Roma was then struck two times by Fritz X missiles, a weapon unknown to the Italians at the time. The first one hit amidship between 90 mm AA gun mounts, piercing deck and side, then exploded under the ship, reducing its speed to 10 knots (19 km/h); the other one hit above deck between turret 2 and the conning tower. It caused an explosion that threw the turret outboard and affected the boilers, starting a major fire that detonated the main magazines.Bergamini, Del Cima and other 1,350 crew members were killed when at 16:12 the ship exploded, split into two parts and sank. Only 596 survivors, most badly burned, were rescued.Nave da battaglia / CorazzataSchlachtschiffNavire de guerre / Cuirassé SlagskipSlagskibAcorazadoבאַטטלעשיפּספית-טורפדות Cruzador de batalhaTaistelulaivaKaro laivasЛинкорبارجة战舰 Bitevní loď Slagschipكشتي‌ جنگي‌Θωρηκτό 戦艦 전함Slagskepp Bojni BrodЛинеен корабLahingulaevOkręt wojennyเรือประจัญบานBitevní loďSavaş gemisiЛінкорCsatahajóChiến hạmKapal perangPancernik