| June 28 |  |
Editor says, what if Benito Mussolini had been able to commit more resources to the Regia Marina? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the July 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1937, on this day at the Ansaldo Shipyard in Genoa Il Duce ordered an expansion of the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) to include the building of the Aquila ("Eagle") and Sparviero ("Sparrowhark") double aircraft carrier force mirroring (and perhaps rivaling) the "Plan Z" construction undertaken by the Kriegsmarine.
Flugzeugträger Part 9:
Operation HatsBenito Mussolini saw the control of the Mediterranean Sea as an essential prerequisite for expanding his "New Roman Empire" into Nice, Corsica, Tunis, and the Balkans. He described the Mediterranean as "Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea) and ensured that Italian naval building accelerated during his tenure.
With the German double aircraft carrier force committed to the Atlantic, it would fall upon the Regia Marina to lead the Battle of the Mediterranean. And eventually the operation of Malta Convoys ("Operation Hats") would pave the wave for the the Italo-German invasion of the island of Malta. And yet the development of a formidable Italian Navy was a luxury resulting from the early Italian disengagement in the Spanish Civil War, a messy conflict that could have easily sapped resources at a time when military build-up needed to accelerate. Instead, the Fall of Madrid (and subsequent implosion of the Republic) was entirely due to the fortuitous deployment of a German Volunteer Division that had tipped the scales in favour of the Fascists.
This post shares some commonality with the sister articles in the Flugzeugträger thread.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Flugzeugtrager Source: Wikipedia Labels: Regia Marina, Kriegsmarine, German Navy, Operation Hats, Second World War. Editor says, in our timeline the aircraft carriers Aquila and Sparviero were never completed and most air support during the Battle of the Mediterranean was supplied by the land-based Regia Aeronautica. Please note that in authoring this post we have repurposed a considerable amount of content from Wikipedia.
~ If Italy had concentrated on control of the Med (and possession of Malta) instead of remaining in North Africa and contributing to the Eastern Front (with one division, I believe), I think they would have been a much bigger player in the war. Would the Allies have invaded an Italy that was in control of the surrounding sea lanes? Maybe not. Churchill's desire to invade Greece may have come to fruition after all.
~ They wouldn't have been able to fully control the Mediterranean without Gibraltar, so we could have expected an Italian attempt on the Rock after the successful invasion of Malta.
~ Could they get Spanish help (such as it was) in cracking the Rock? Maybe in return for a promise of Spanish control "after the hostilities have settled down".....
~ The British would have taken Italy quite a bit more seriously if they'd had a better Navy. More resources would have been tasked to dealing with them, which means that the Germans would have had a freer hand elsewhere.
~ If it'd been able to pin up the British fleet and seize the French ships at Mers-el-Kebir, they'd have a hefty force. If not Gibraltar, what about the Suez?
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
