Italian aircraft carrier Sparviero
Encyclopedia
Sparviero (Italian
: "Sparrowhawk") was an Italian
aircraft carrier
designed and built during World War II
. She was originally the ocean liner
MS Augustus
. The conversion was started in 1942 and was almost completed, but the ship was never delivered to the Regia Marina
. She began to be scrapped in 1946, a process completed by 1952.
The superstructure was to be removed. She would had also been equipped with a single hangar with two lifts and fitted with a flight deck that ended 45 meters before the bow. She would have had a narrow flight deck. Her air group was to be either 34 fighters or 16 fighters and 9 torpedo bombers. The propulsion plant was to remain unchanged, the diesels giving an estimated speed of under 20 knots.
The conversion began in September 1942, the work undertaken by the Ansaldo Shipyard in Genoa
. Apart from removing the superstructure little else was done before the Italian capitulation. The hull was captured by the Germans and was sunk on 5 October 1944 to block access to the port of Genoa. The wreckage was recovered after the war and finally scrapped in 1951.
Like the Sparviero, the Italian aircraft carrier Aquila
, a modification of the sister ship of the Augustus, , was scuttled and scrapped before the conversion into the aircraft carrier was finished. These two ships were the last attempts to build aircraft carriers for the Italian Navy until 1981, when work began on the Giuseppe Garibaldi.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: "Sparrowhawk") was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
designed and built during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was originally the ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
MS Augustus
MS Augustus
MS Augustus was a combined ocean liner and cruise ship built in 1927 for Navigazione Generale Italiana. The ship was later transferred to the new Italian Line after the merger of Navigazione Generale Italiana. Her sister ship was SS Roma-History:...
. The conversion was started in 1942 and was almost completed, but the ship was never delivered to the Regia Marina
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
. She began to be scrapped in 1946, a process completed by 1952.
As the Sparviero
In 1936, a project to transform the 30,418 GRT ocean liner Augustus into an auxiliary carrier was prepared. The idea was initially abandoned but then resumed in 1942. The passenger ship Augustus was first renamed Falco and then to Sparviero.The superstructure was to be removed. She would had also been equipped with a single hangar with two lifts and fitted with a flight deck that ended 45 meters before the bow. She would have had a narrow flight deck. Her air group was to be either 34 fighters or 16 fighters and 9 torpedo bombers. The propulsion plant was to remain unchanged, the diesels giving an estimated speed of under 20 knots.
The conversion began in September 1942, the work undertaken by the Ansaldo Shipyard in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. Apart from removing the superstructure little else was done before the Italian capitulation. The hull was captured by the Germans and was sunk on 5 October 1944 to block access to the port of Genoa. The wreckage was recovered after the war and finally scrapped in 1951.
Like the Sparviero, the Italian aircraft carrier Aquila
Italian aircraft carrier Aquila
Aquila was an Italian aircraft carrier converted from the trans-Atlantic passenger liner during World War II. Work on Aquila began in late 1941 at the Ansaldo shipyard in Genoa and continued for the next two years. With the signing of the Italian armistice on 8 September 1943, however, all work...
, a modification of the sister ship of the Augustus, , was scuttled and scrapped before the conversion into the aircraft carrier was finished. These two ships were the last attempts to build aircraft carriers for the Italian Navy until 1981, when work began on the Giuseppe Garibaldi.