The beginnings of naval aviation date back to the early twentieth century when some officers of the Royal Navy became interested in possible applications of the first half by air, first by the balloons, airships and then later with the testing and use of the first airplanes. In this pioneering phase
emerged the figure of Lieutenant Mario Calderara, who in 1909 took some flying lessons by Wilbur Wright, who is visiting Italy, earning his pilot on the ground in 1910 and obtaining the command of the first school Flight Italian Roman Centocelle located at the airport. Another emerging figure of this phase was the pioneer of the Captain of Naval Engineers Alessandro Guidoni whose name is also linked to a number of projects, especially that of the "Ship Hangar.
In June 1913, Ministerial Decree was officially formed the "Service Aircraft of the Royal Navy and on 20 July he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Royal Navy, Admiral Paolo Thaon Revel , Naval Air Force advocate , which gave an important impetus to the development and strengthening of the sector.
With the development of the airship development was considered essential for a more complete conduct of operations at sea and to emerge was the need to have Unia ship specially equipped to take full advantage of the potential of the aircraft. For qiesto reason the Navy decided to transform ' protected cruiser Elba in seaplane tender, with the removal of the whole main armament and construction of shelters, to house 3 / 4 flying boats of the type Curtiss Flying Boat , guests ashore for takeoff and recover at the end of the flight through the air winches and whose budget was completed with a balloon on board. In this unit it was flanked another, the merchant ship Fourth, which was purchased and renamed the Royal Navy Europe, whose works were realizzzati processing within the Arsenale in La Spezia by boat was delivered to the Navy in the vicinity the outbreak of the First World War.
since 1912 were then also made the first evidence for the accommodation of aircraft on board ships with Curtiss flying boats used to type the battleship Dante Alighieri .
The seaplane Curtiss Flying Boat , derivation of the previous model of 1912, he joined in early 1914 of the element of flight as well as the Dante Alighieri battleship, cruisers Amalfi, San Marco and seaplane Elba.
The outbreak of World War gave considerable impetus to the development of naval aviation. After September 7, 1916 a royal decree had placed the Naval Aviation Service, intended as a military aviation unit, under the Ministry of War - which provoked the resignation of Thaon Revel -, non-implementation of the decree made on his return Admiral positions, so that taking control of the situation led to the aeronautical service at a level of respect. To give refuge to the airships that had the task of spotting submarines attempting to transit through the Straits of Messina was also built the 'blimp hangar but Augusta was completed in 1920 when the conflict was over. During the conflict
Service Aeronautical lost 121 men getting 405 decorations, including two gold medal for military valor, the pilots Lieutenants Garassino Giuseppe Garbarino and Eugene Casagrande .
After the war, in 1920, the same King Vittorio Emanuele III officially assigned to the Naval Aviation Service of the Air Force designation of granting the Navy War Flag, which is immediately awarded the Silver Medal for Valor "for 'intense activity with honor throughout the course of the First World War. "
In 1923, the transport vessel for the State Railways City of Messina, just launched was built in the Royal Navy to provide logistical support to seaplanes supplied to the cruisers and battleships, with the task of vessel for servicing and repair of aircraft and at the same time to carry them at the naval squadrons which provide support. The conversion work carried out at the Royal Arsenal of La Spezia began January 24, 1925 and renamed the ship Joseph Miraglia entered service on 1 November 1927.
In 1923 the Royal Air Force was formed as a third armed force, the Air Force of the Royal Navy which maintained its independence but with a subsequent law of 1931 was placed under the employ of any general aviation pilots with the officers of the Royal Marina called to act as observer from the airplane, which will continue to play even if a law of 1937 finally gave the Royal Air Force all military aircraft.
From the mid-twenties, the Navy evaluated the opportunities of providing more units of its aircraft to support all major units and to allow the launch aircraft with the ship in motion, even in the presence of wave heights that that it can not take off from the sea surface were installed catapults, which were of lattice structures, tilt or fixed on a sliding carriage which was set to launch the plane, with the truck that was accelerated by the introduction compressed air in special cylinders for expansion. After a series of tests with various different seaplanes, or designed for civilian use as Macchi M.18 , or more specific such as Piaggio P.6 and CANNOT 25, the choice in the thirties was adopted as modern maritime reconnaissance seaplane IMAM Ro.43, two-seater biplane central wooden float, not being equipped with brilliant seaworthy reach 300 km / h with about 1 000 km range, which became the standard for all the major units of the Navy and whose wings could be folded back to allow the admission of aircraft on ships.
With the outbreak of the Second Ro.43 World War was the only aircraft being loaded on the various ships of the Royal Navy were ready for use 42 of these flying boats which were found to hold even the improbable role of hunting, totally inadequate, since these planes have only a two Breda-Safat machine guns 7.7 mm, one fixed on the muzzle and a swivel back into place. A number of structural deficiencies have been shown because of the intense use forced the design of a 2 ª improved version, which brought the total number of units produced in 194, but remained confined to the role of reconnaissance and observation of naval artillery support. Remained very complex operations and re-embark at the end of mission which had to be done to stop the vessel, and subject to weather conditions, through the sling of the airplane was hoisted by a crane on the bridge, thus increasing the vulnerability of naval unit, however, committed to the recovery operation, so that eventually preferred that the aircraft fell in a coastal seaplane to make later re-embark the ship in port, allowing in practice, for each navigation, the use of any aircraft on board for a single mission.
By these means the air cover proved inadequate when placed in contrast to that of the Mediterranean Fleet of the Royal Navy that the November 11, 1940, in the so-called night of Taranto with torpedo planes launched from the aircraft carrier Illustrious put out of action at Taranto the battleships Littorio and Duilio Cavour. A few months later in March 1941, the Battle of Cape Matapan, other torpedo bombers, launched from the aircraft carrier Formidable damaged the battleship Vittorio Veneto who managed to return to Taranto and especially annihilated the entire I ª Cruiser Division, sank the heavy cruisers Zara, River and Pola and the destroyers of the escort Alfieri and Carducci , killing 2,023 sailors, 783 of which Zadar, Pula of 813, 211, ' Alfieri and Carducci 169, .
When, after the battle of Cape Matapan, the absence of aircraft carriers showed a heavy impact on the fate of the Fleet at sea, you try to do something about preparing the transatlantic Rome and Augustus processing into aircraft carriers on the basis of Preliminary studies carried out since 1936, which were renamed respectively Eagle and Hawk .
awaiting processing in the two transatlantic carriers was decided to add a hunting ground all'idrovolante Ro 43 catapults. The choice fell on Reggiane Re.2000 , with good speed (530 km / h) and discrete autonomy, which was developed version Catapults, for use on board units of the Royal Navy. The first tests were made on the seaplane carrier Giuseppe Miraglia pilot Giulio Reiner, a specially formed squadron, the squadron of the Air Force Reserve FF.NN.BB. (Battle Fleet) whose symbol was placed on a duck tail drift, and some of these aircraft were loaded on the battleships Roma, Vittorio Veneto Littorio and . In April 1943 the squadron was disbanded to form the group of Air Force Reserve FF.NN.BB., three squadrons. The two prototypes were the MM 471 and 485, while the MM series of 8 specimens from 8281 to 8288. After the Armistice of Cassibile, some Re.2000 received the insignia of the Air Force co-belligerent.
armistice on 8 September 1943, aboard seaplanes Ro 43 were 19 while 20 were employed at Naval Force squadrons, while the aircraft was 6 catapultabile RE 2000, two of the battleship Roma and one each in Italy (ex Littorio ) and Vittorio Veneto . The performance of the aircraft carrier
Eagle and Hawk started Ansaldo shipyards in Sestri Ponente budgeted in 8-9 months to work, lasted until the premature decision to suspend it in June 1943 with two units respectively to complete 90% and 40%, and the aircraft carrier Aquila who had already made the first static test of the engine. Neither, however, saw operational use, el ' Eagle was sunk by divers of the Italian special forces to prevent Cobelligerante were sunk to block entrance to the port of Genoa.
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