USS NEW YORK (BB-34) Battleship Wooden Ship Model Scale 1:200

Roma, named after two previous ships and the city of Rome, was the third Vittorio Veneto-class battleship of Italy's Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The construction of both Roma and her sister ship Impero was due to rising tensions around the world and the navy's fear that only two Vittorio Venetos, even in company with older pre-First World War battleships, would not be enough to counter the British and French Mediterranean Fleets. As Roma was laid down almost four years after the first two ships of the class, some small improvements were made to the design, including additional freeboard added to the bow.

Roma was commissioned into the Regia Marina on 14 June 1942, but a severe fuel shortage in Italy at that time prevented her from being deployed; instead, along with her sister ships Vittorio Veneto and Littorio, she was used to bolster the anti-aircraft defenses of various Italian cities. In this role, she was severely damaged twice in June 1943, from bomber raids on La Spezia. After repairs in Genoa through all of July and part of August, Roma was deployed as the flagship of Admiral Carlo Bergamini in a large battle group that eventually comprised the three Vittorio Venetos, eight cruisers and eight destroyers. The battle group was scheduled to attack the Allied ships approaching Salerno to invade Italy (Operation "Avalanche") on 9 September 1943, but the news of the 8 September 1943 armistice with the Allies led to the operation being cancelled. The Italian fleet was instead ordered to sail to La Maddalena (Sardinia) and subsequently to Malta to surrender to the Allies.

While the force was in the Strait of Bonifacio, Dornier Do 217s of the German Luftwaffe's specialist wing KG 100—armed with Fritz X radio-controlled bombs—sighted the force. The first attack failed, but the second dealt Italia (ex-Littorio) and Roma much damage. The hit on Roma caused water to flood two boiler rooms and the aft engine room, leaving the ship to limp along with two propellers, reduced power, and arc-induced fires in the stern of the ship. Shortly thereafter, another bomb slammed into the ship and detonated within the forward engine room, causing catastrophic flooding and the explosion of the #2 main turret's magazines, throwing the turret itself into the sea. Sinking by the bow and listing to starboard, Roma capsized and broke in two, carrying 1,393 men—including Bergamini—down with her.

Operational history

Korietz was laid down in Stockholm, Sweden at the Bergsund Mekaniksa shipyards in December 1885, launched on August 7, 1886, and commissioned in 1888.

Assigned to service with the Russian Pacific Fleet in 1895, she was a frequent visitor to ports in Korea, Japan and northern China. During the Boxer Rebellion, she participated in the Eight-Nation Alliance attack on Taku Forts on June 1900. During this battle, she was hit six times by shells fired by the Chinese defenders, and suffered nine crewmen killed and 20 wounded.

Together with the cruiser Varyag, Korietz was dispatched from Port Arthur to the main Korean port of Chemulpo (modern-day Incheon) in early 1904 to protect Russian interests, as diplomatic tensions continued to increase between Russia and the Empire of Japan. After the Russian transport Sungari arrived at Chemulpo on 7 February 1904, reporting the sighting of a large Japanese force approaching, Korietz (under the command of G. P. Belyaev) was ordered to return to Port Arthur to report and request instructions. In the early morning of 8 February 1904, Korietz spotted Chiyoda outside the Chemulpo roadstead, and mistaking it for a fellow Russian ship, loaded its guns for a salute. On closing in, the crew of the Korietz realized their mistake and in the ensuing confusion the guns were discharged. Chiyoda responded by launching a torpedo. Both sides missed, but this was the first actual exchange of fire in the Russo-Japanese War, and it is highly unclear which side actually opened fire first. Korietz retreated back to Chemulpo harbor.

In the subsequent Battle of Chemulpo Bay, Captain Vsevolod Rudnev of the Varyag refused an ultimatum by Imperial Japanese Navy admiral Uryū Sotokichi to surrender, and on February 9, 1904 attempted to break through the Japanese squadron from Chemulpo to the open sea. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, Korietz fired 52 rounds at the Japanese ships, but was at a distance that most of its shots did not even reach the Japanese fleet. Varyag took heavy damage; Korietz suffered from only light damage from shrapnel with no casualties. Unable to break past the Japanese squadron by mid-afternoon, Korietz and Varyag returned to Chemulpo harbor, where both took refuge near the neutral warships. At 1600 the same day, Korietz was scuttled by its crew by blowing up two ammunition magazines. The crew was taken aboard a French cruiser Pascal, taken to Saigon, French Indochina, and returned to Russia. In St. Petersburg all the officers were awarded the Order of St. George (4th class), the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire.

After the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the wreckage of Korietz was raised by Japanese engineers, and scrapped.

Second gunboat

There was a second gunboat named Korietz, laid down in 1906 at the Putilov Plant in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She was of the Gilyak class. At the end of the First World War she participated in the Battle of Moon Sound, but was blown up by her crew on August 8, 1915 in to avoid having to be surrendered to German forces.