The RN Roma holds a unique
historical distinction, she was the first major warship to be sunk by a guided
missile. The Roma was the third and
last member of the Vittorio Veneto
Class of Italian Battleships to be completed for the Regia Marina. The class
comprised four ships. Vittorio Veneto
and Littorio laid down in October
1934, were the first pair. Roma and Impero
laid down in 1938, were the second pair. Although the Impero
was launched seven months before the Roma,
she was never completed. Therefore, Roma
was the last battleship to be completed by Italy.
Mussolini’s government stated that the ships had a displacement of 35,000
tons and accordingly were within the limits imposed by the Washington and London
Treaties. In reality they averaged a displacement of 41,000 tons. This disregard
of the terms of the international treaties on maximum displacement of warships
and then providing false information as to their displacement to conceal the
truth, were tactics also practiced by Italy’s future allies, Germany and
Japan. The class in common with the four completely rebuilt battleships of the Conte
di Cavour and Caio Duilio
Classes incorporated a unique form of torpedo protection, the Pugliese
cylinder. Huge hollow steel cylinders, 12.5 feet in diameter, were situated
behind the armor belt and ran the entire length of the citadel amidships. They
were designed to crush in the event of torpedo detonation and absorb the force
of the explosion.
The nine 15 inch/ 50 caliber guns were of a completely new design and fired a
shell weighing 1,951 pounds. The maximum elevation was 35 degrees, which gave
the guns a maximum range of 46,216 yards. The secondary battery comprised twelve
six-inch 55 cal guns, singly mounted in turrets amidships. They fired a shell of
110 pounds and had a range of 28,150 yards. However, they were not designed for
dual-purpose (DP) use. As designed, the class was thought to have a heavy AA
armament of twelve 3.5 inch, twenty 37mm and sixteen 20mm AA guns. In common
with other navies, as the war progressed, additional 20mm AA guns were added. Roma
completed with twenty-eight 20mm guns placed in twin mountings. There were also
variations in the superstructure of Roma
that distinguished her from her two sisters.
Originally the class carried two Ro.43 reconnaissance floatplanes but after
the Battle of Cape Matapan, the floatplanes were replaced by Re.2000 fighters.
The Re.2000 fighters carried by the battleships were a special long-range
variant. They were wheeled and could not be recovered after launch. The
propulsion machiery was designed to produce 128, 206 shp. On trials both Vittorio
Veneto and Littorio
substantially exceeded designed shp to reach maximum speeds slightly over 31
knots.
The first pair saw significant action in the Mediterranean Theater, mainly as
victim of British air attacks. Roma
was not completed until June 14, 1942. By that time the Regia Marina was far
less active due to critical fuel shortages. Roma
was made fleet flagship but because of the lack of fuel and the dominance of the
Royal Navy by the summer of 1942, she made no sorties. Her sole action against
the allies was to be damaged in an air attack on June 23, 1943. With the Italian
armistice of September 1943, Roma led
the Italian Fleet to Malta. On September 9, 1943, while in the Straits of
Bonifacio, she was attacked by German bombers armed with a new breakthrough in
technology, the guided missile. Eleven Do 217 bombers from KG 100 were armed
with the new SD-1400 Fritz X glider bombs. Two of these optically and radio
guided missiles struck Roma. The
first struck her amidships. It passed through and exploded under her keel. The
second hit near the bridge and B turret. The magazine for B turret detonated,
blowing the huge turret off of the ship and into the sea beside her. Roma
sank soon afterwards, claiming Fleet Admiral Bergamini and 1,254 sailors. (The
bulk of the history of the RN Roma is from Battleships
of World War Two by M. J. Whitley)
RESIN CASTING
The hull of the H-P Models Roma
presents the clean, elegant lines of this beautiful Italian design. It is
absolutely flat and only requires a minimum sanding of the hull bottom to
prepare it for assembly. Casting is well done as there are no air bubbles and
there was no breakage on the hull. Deck detail is good but not exceptional.
Breakwater and boat chocks are admirably thin. Other deck fittings, such as
capstans, bollards and winches are good but not great. In comparing the hull
casting with a detailed plan it can be seen that all of the significant fittings
are present and correctly located. A number of the very small fittings are not
present on the hull of the model. The cast anchor chain is only mediocre and not
up to current standards.
The smaller parts are cast on ten thin resin wafers. The resin wafers are
thin enough that only a light sanding is necessary to prepare the parts for
attachment. These wafers contain 237 parts. They range from the large 01 deck
down to minute fittings that are not seen on the assembly instructions. It
appears that the very small deck fittings not cast as part of the hull are cast
on the wafers. This is hard to determine, as the placement of the smallest parts
are not shown on the instructions.
The quality of the smaller parts ranges from good to excellent. The nicest
detail was the inclusion of one each of the Ro.43 floatplane and Re.2000
fighter. In their green and white banded paint schemes, they will add a nice
touch of color to the stern. The 01 deck has good deck detail with winches,
small deck-houses, boat chocks and other fittings. The numerous deck levels and
platforms are very well done with very thin splinter shielding and no defects.
Ship’s boats and secondary turrets are also very well executed. The parts for
the 15-inch guns are cast in groups of three. They are designed to be inserted
through the interior of the main turrets, through the turret openings,
reminiscent of a plastic kit assembly rather than the more conventional practice
of attaching the guns one at a time. In common with other kits from H-P Models,
there is a thin resin film between the gun barrels. Use extreme care in removing
this film, as the barrels are susceptible to breakage. The six-inch gun barrels
are cast separately. They are even more prone to breakage than the 15-inch guns
because each one must be removed from the wafer and cleaned. The barrels for the
smaller armament are subject to the same risks. In cleaning the thin flash on
the 3.5-inch gun turrets, I accidentally broke several of these minute barrels.
This thin flash is common in the rows of the smaller resin parts and care must
be used in removing it from very thin parts.
Although a color flag sheet is provided by H-P Models, there is no
photo-etch. Currently the Italian firm of Regia Marina produces a
stainless steel photo-etched fret, which is included in their versions of Vittorio
Veneto and Roma.
However, this fret can be purchased separately (click for review of the Regia
Marina fret). Sami Arim’s new firm of Navalis is also scheduled
to produce a 1:700 scale photo-etched fret for the class but that fret is not
available as of September 2002. I recommend getting one of these frets (when the
Navalis fret is produced) to complement this model.
INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions for the H-P Models RN Roma
comprise seven single sided pages. All text is in German. One sheet contains the
standard generic instructions found in most of the larger H-P kits. The
first Roma specific sheet contains
the technical data for the ship. The second page contains a ship’s history and
three photographs, two of the loss of the Roma
and the third of the impact points of the bombs on a ship’s plan. The third
sheet is the typical H-P isometric assembly diagram. This sheet also
contains measurements for masts, yards, spacing and davits, which must be
fabricated from wire or rod. The fourth sheet has a so-so plan and profile and
the port & starboard camouflage schemes for Roma
in 1943. Lastly there is a sheet of gray scale drawings of the Ro.43 and
Re.2000, which is fine to show the modeler the livery and smaller detail if the
modeler wishes to super-detail these tiny aircraft.
The instructions are not adequate. As mentioned earlier some of the smallest
parts are not shown in them. A good plan and profile will be of immense help in
building this model. A simplistic one page isometric assembly diagram just doesn’t
cut it when assembling a kit made up of 238 parts, excluding scratch-built
masts, yards, davits, etc.
VERDICT
The H-P Models Roma is a good model
but not an exceptional one. The larger H-P kits seem to have a mix of
contradictions. Some parts are excellent, some are average and a few are less
than standard. Removal of resin flash and barrel breakage are minor problems.
The simple instructions are not up to showing the modeler how to construct a
model of this complexity. It is definitely not for the beginning resin modeler.
However, as the parts count shows, all of the fixins are there. They just
need to be released from the resin wafers and attached with the help of
additional references. This is a big model that has the potential to be a very
attractive model when assembled. It just needs the artist to release it.
Pacific Front Hobbies (Phone:
541-464-8579, Fax: 541-957-5477, E-Mail Shipguy@internetcds.com) is the
exclusive distributor in the United States for the Roma
as well as the rest of the extensive H-P Models line of 1:700 waterline
kits.
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