Vittorio Veneto C 550 (1985 Configuration)

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

  A cruiser hybrid between a small carrier and a full cruiser the Vittorio Veneto (pennant number C 550) served in the Marina Militare from 1969 to 2003.  Similar to the French Jeanne d'Arc the Russian Moskva as well as the preceding Andrea Doria classes she was generally referred to as a "helicopter cruiser."  Like the Andrea Doria (pennant number C 553) class her design satisfied the needs of the Marina Militare for anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare. 

 

The Vittorio Veneto was built at the Italcantieri yard of Castellammare di Stabia.  Laid down on 10 June 1965, launched on 5 February 1967 she was commissioned in October of 1969 and stationed at the Naval Base in Taranto.  It would serve as the flagship of the Marina Militare until the commissioning of the aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1985.  In 1995 she was a relatively old ship but still capable enough to be retained as a training ship.  In 1997 she ran aground in bad weather off the cost of Vlore while acting as the flagship for a multi-national task force covering aid deliveries to Albania.  However, four tugboats pulled her free with no damage to the ship or injuries to crew.  Her age and design finally caught up with her in 2003 when she was decommissioned.  Her role is now fulfilled by the aircraft carrier Cavour.

 

Something of an iterative improvement over the Doria the Veneto used experiences gained from that class to provide the Marina Militare with enhanced capability.  Like the Doria she was armed with one Mk 10 twin arm launcher for Terrier SAM's but had the mod 7 version which added the capability to fire ASROC.  She also had the same gun armament of Eight Oto Melara 76/52's in single turrets and torpedo armament of two triple 324mm ASW torpedo tubes.   She also had roughly the same speed (30.5 vs 31 kts on the Doria) but less endurance with a range of 5000 nmi vs 6000 nmi.  The ships also shared a modern and comprehensive sensor suite composed of advanced radar and sonar devices.  The key difference between the vessels was size.  At 179.6m by 19.4m and 8,850 tons fully loaded vs the Doria's 149.3m by 17.3m and 6,500 tons fully loaded the Veneto could operate a larger air wing (six SH-3D or nine AB-212 vs four AB-212) in rougher weather, as well as carry more anti-aircraft missiles (it had a third drum for its Mk10 launcher giving it 20 more missiles for a total of 60).  Overall the Veneto was a tremendously capable ship when introduced and because of her fundamentally good design the Marina Militare retained her for a long service life.   As a result she underwent a significant update in the early 1980's giving her improved electronics Otomat missiles, additional AA guns in three OTO Melara twin 40mm DARDO CIWS mounts, and Standard SM-1ER missiles to replace the Terrier.  

 

 

Vittorio Veneto 1975

 

Vittorio Veneto 1990.

 

Because her as built armament and scope is so similar to the Andrea Doria (C 553) that has already been suggested I am recommending her in her 1985 configuration.  In this configuration she had the following specifications:

 

Displacement (Full):  8,850 tons

Length: 179.6m

Beam: 19.4m

Draft: 6.0m

Machinery: 2 shaft geared turbines, 4 Foster Wheeler boilers generating a total of 73,000 shp

Max Speed: 30.5 kts

Armament:  1 X Mk 10 twin-arm launcher for 60 total missiles of SM-1ER and RUR-5 ASROC.  8 X Oto Melara 76/62 MMI.  3 X Oto Melara Twin 40/70  DARDO CIWS.  4 X OTOMAT SSM's.  2 X triple 324mm torpedo tubes.

Crew:  557

 

Even though she is a "helicopter cruiser"  her armament independent of her helicopters is cruiser worthy and would be a fine addition to the game when it inevitably begins employing missile warfare.  However, until such time her gun armament is unsuitable for the current style of gameplay.

 

Sources:

http://www.navypedia.org/ships/italy/it_cr_vittorio_veneto.htm

https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/TUVZ/vittorio_veneto_550.aspx

https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/cold-war/marina-militare-italian-cold-war-navy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_cruiser_Vittorio_Veneto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Doria-class_cruiser

 

Respectfully Submitted,

                          Conte Baracca

[Princess_Pinch 5,625]

Open for discussion. o7

[Nicholas_Concu 2,634]

+1, yeeees
modern ships!

[ZackZooter 55]

Missile era on War Thunder Naval might come later after all nation naval added into the game but this kind of ship can be added even w/out its modern armament..

 

If this Heavy Destroyer/Light Cruiser were gonna be added, it might be proper to be placed at BR 4.7 or BR 5.0 at most, similar to current Koln F220 frigate & Lubeck F224 version even w/out its SAM & SSM missiles...

 

Why i suggest so, its because this ship can be played similarly to those 2 German Frigate with its 8 single 3inch Oto Melara cannon & 3 twin Bofors alongside with its 2x Triple Torpedo launcher alone...

 

Its RUR-5 ASROC secondaries already exist in game on Chikugo but Gaijin haven't implemented its gameplay yet...

 

It might be very interesting secondaries which could functions similarly to current PR159 rocket launcher range or Koln F220 ASW rocket launcher but instead of multiple small rockets, its 1 large rocket similar to Koln F220 but with minor guidance control if aimed at surface ships unlike Saetta which can snipe anything that moves if aimed properly

[_Pixy 196]

+1 gib

[Milocat 4,857]

+1, sure.  It's only natural that we'll get additional modern ships anyway.

[ironcell26 252]

+1, when it won't face ww2 ships

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

6 hours ago, ironcell26 said:

+1, when it won't face ww2 ships

Yeah this is definitely something for the far future.

[camelcabal 28]

+1 It would be interesting to see this ship with missiles and helicopters in naval battles 

[ItalianAce02 40]

+1 now that missile are in

[S__bastienZ88 635]

+1