Littorio was unfortunate enough to find herself berthed at Taranto when the British Royal Navy conducted its famous aerial assault on November 11th, 1940 (Battle of Taranto), leaving the warship damaged by three torpedoes from "Swordfish" bombers which led to her undergoing repairs until the following March. From then on, the warship was part of the Italian fleet charged with running down British naval forces in the Mediterranean, waterways so crucial to both sides of the war - particularly in securing and reinforcing elements in North Africa and the Balkans.
The Second Battle of Sirte was had on March 22nd, 1942 which involved Littorio as the only battleship present amongst a fleet of cruisers, destroyers and a few submarines. The outnumbered Royal Navy convoy was able to damage the mighty battleship by torpedo but a pair of enemy destroyers were disabled and three cruisers and three destroyers damaged in turn. The battle is largely viewed as a British victory.
In July of 1943, Littorio was renamed as "Italia" following the fall of the Fascist-led government in Italy. Now aligned against the Axis, Italia journeyed towards internment but became a target of German bombers on September 9th. Her bow was heavily damaged by a Fritz X radio-controlled bomb in the attack and her sister, Roma, was sunk (the official Italian surrender arrived in September of 1943). She eventually interred at Malta, Alexandria before ending her war time in the Suez Canal until 1947. Given to the United States as a war prize, the she was stripped of her usefulness and scrapped at La Spezia from the period spanning 1952 to 1954.
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