Roma was the third Vittorio Veneto class battleship of Italy’s Royal Navy, constructed to bolster Italy’s existing naval force in light of rising tensions between world powers. By the time Roma was completed there was a severe fuel shortage in Italy and she was kept docked around the coast to defend various Italian cities. During the La Spezia bomber raids she was twice hit with heavy damage. After repairs she became the flagship of Admiral Carlo Bergamini and was scheduled to attack a group of Allied ships approaching Salerno just one day after the Italian armistice with the Allies. Ordered to Malta to formally surrender and spotted en route by Luftwaffe’s specialist wing, Roma and her sister ship Italia (formerly Littorio) were bombed. Roma capsized and took nearly 1400 men to the bottom of the sea with her.
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