Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "RN Conte di Cavour - Guide 222" video.

  1. That thought has crossed my mind too. If the money, labor and material used on the four rebuilds had been applied to the Littorios instead, they may have completed all four. By US/UK standards, the time needed to complete the first two Littorios was exceptionally long.
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  2.  @Captain_Seafort  A second Italian battleship, Benedetto Brin, suffered a magazine explosion in Brindisi in 1915.
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  3.  @phoenixjz4782  Thanks for the excellent and detailed reply. wrt the moving of Impero, iirc the French and British fleets both shelled Genoa in 40 and 41. If Impero had been there, it almost certainly would have been targeted.
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  4. That was quite an accomplishment. They pressurized the hull while inverted, so a crew could work inside to remove the fuel and ammunition, while the guns and superstructure were removed to lighten the hull. Then a channel was dredged to the drydock, because the ship drew more water inverted. The hull was repaired, then a channel out into the harbor, and a deep basin were dredged. The inverted hull was towed into the basin and ballasted to rotate it upright. There is film of the ship being righted on youtube.
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  5. Very true. Newspaper accounts at the time had plenty to say about Senator Hale's influence in getting these ships built, and the criticism of them in the press was blistering.
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  6.  @phoenixjz4782  I have read that, after the French shelling, the Faà di Bruno, a WWI monitor mounting two 15"/40 guns, was towed to Genoa to act as a floating battery. When the British came calling, the Bruno only got off about three rounds before the Brits hit the power cable from shore, shutting the Bruno down, so if they had an attractive target, the Brits could hit it. After that, about four more of those 15"/40s were pulled from the armory and installed around Genoa. The Brits must not have liked 15" shore batteries, because they didn't call at Genoa again.
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  7. They took a more conventional approach with the Andrea Dorias, taking the original bow off, before building the new one.
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