Page 473 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

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wOrld war One
Giustino’s design and manufacturing skills were demonstrated in World War One, with
the extensive use of his unique designs in Italian Air Force aircraft, especially flaying boats.
He also developed and manufactured the engines for the celebrated MAS Torpedo Boats.
On the Adriatic theater of operations, specialized aircraft and a plethora of small craft
took over the duties of the absent capital ships at the Italian side. Most of all, fast, flat-bot-
tomed motor torpedo boats and gunboats did the main work of the battleships and destroyers,
deterring the small but nonetheless powerful Austro-Hungarian battle squadron from all but
one, disastrous sortie. All the while, the small boats were tireless in raiding enemy anchor-
ages, escorting coastal convoys, and supporting infantry with naval gunfire
Naval Aviation. In support of these varied surface craft, Italy developed an extraordinary
range of water-based, high-performance fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance airplanes.
Along the Adriatic, Austria-Hungary and Italy faced each other across 75-100 miles of wa-
ter along a front stretching 400-500 miles. Aircraft could attack almost any point along the
enemy coast, provided that airbases could be found close to the water. This was frequently
a problem for landplanes, however, particularly in Italy. To the south of Venice, the malarial
swamps, mudflats, dunes, and drainage canals of the Maremma provided few suitable fields
reasonably close to the coast. Much of the land further west was, in any case, rice paddy,
subject to periodic inundations by the Po and its tributaries. This same area was, however,
amply supplied with small anchorages, sheltered canals, and fishing ports that could support
marine aircraft.
Italian industrial capacity was still modest when war commenced. Italy could not supply
sufficient numbers of indigenous warplanes. So Italy relied heavily on imported and license-
built foreign types. Obtaining adequate numbers of coastal patrol and convoy escort aircraft
posed a particular problem given Italy’s long coastline. Accordingly, the Regia Marina im-
ported large numbers of French FBA flying boats. These were somewhat small for use in
the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay, so they were not used extensively by the French and
British, who preferred longer legged Curtiss, Felixstowe, and Tellier boats. Over the short
ranges typical of the Adriatic, FBAs were entirely satisfactory, however. FBAs were used
extensively for antisubmarine patrol, convoy escort, and general, maritime reconnaissance.
The first successful indigenous type, the Macchi Type L general-purpose flying boat, was
a direct copy of an Austrian captured Lohner Type L, made at the express request of the Ital-
ian authorities. Some batches of the aircraft introduced a semi-enclosed cabin for the crew or
a different, rounded fin and rudder, but all were essentially similar to their Austrian originals.
An Isotta-Fraschini V4B, designed by Giustino Cattaneo substituted for the Austro-Daimler
of the captured machine. Bombs, depth charges, and 6.5-mm Revelli machineguns were
the usual armament. But many carried a 25-mm, quick-firing Revelli cannon instead, often
supplemented by a twin-barreled, 9-mm Vilar-Perosa submachine gun.
By combining its experience reverse engineering the Lohner with that gained from li-
cense manufacturer of Nieuport scouts, Macchi went on to produce the most successful fly-
ing boat fighter of all time, the Macchi M.5. This combined the Ls Lohner-like hull and V4B
engine (V6B in late-production machines) with the graceful sequin-plane wings of a Nie-
uport 17. The resulting boat was fast (117 mph) and maneuverable enough to fight landplanes