CVH550PORTAEREICAVOUR

CAVOUR

OVERVIEW

The aircraft carrier Cavour, the largest and most complex ship ever built by the Italian Navy, is the final output of a fully national Italian project.After keel laying in 2001, she was launched in 2004 and commissioned in 2008; Ca-vour is a true and fine example of Italian technology and of our nation’s industrial capabilities.As flagship of the Italian Navy, her Com-bat Ensign was handed over on June 10th 2009, during Navy Day’s ceremonies, at-tending the President of the Republic and top-brass military authorities, and thus marking the event of the ship’s final deli-very to Italy’s “Marina Militare”.Aircraft carrier Cavour fulfills the Navy’s need for a dual-use major warship, with “projection power” capabilities in clas-sic military operations, being also able to operate as an advanced sea-based Com-mand and Control platform for widespre-ad operations. Inasmuch, Cavour may pro-vide advanced support for various civilian needs and emergencies, as environmental disasters and humanitarian relief opera-tions either in national and international scenarios.

OVERVIEW

CVH550PORTAEREICAVOUR

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour (1810 – 1861), was a statesman and one of the most important characters of the Italian “Risorgimento”, the struggle for national unity in the XIX century. With a great stra-tegic overview, he deeply contributed to Italy’s unification. As Prime Minister of the Sardinia Kingdom (a post he held for se-veral years in the 1850s), in 1861 he beca-me the first Prime Minister of the newborn unified Kingdom of Italy, being appointed Foreign Affairs Minister and Navy Minister at the same time as well. Thus, he is wi-dely known as the founder of the Italian Navy, as he vastly contributed to the uni-

fication of the pre-existents Bourbon and Sardinian Navies, taking the lead for the creation of an efficient and modern Italian sea-service.The first Italian Navy’s ship named after Cavour was a sail transport, briefly serving for a few years after Italian unification.The second Cavour (more precisely Conte di Cavour) was a “dreadnought” type bat-tleship launched in 1911 and commissio-ned in 1915 (whose motto was “A nessuno secondo”, i.e.: “Second to none”), that ser-ved since the Great War until 1931, when she was placed in reserve for reconstruc-tion. Conte di Cavour was completely re-built in the mid-1930s, being recommis-sioned in 1937 with her new motto: “Molti nemici, molto onore” (“Many enemies, great honour”). Along with sistership Giu-lio Cesare, she fought in the early months of WW II, until being heavily damaged by an enemy torpedo. Upon refloating, she shifted her homeport to Trieste where a complete reconstruction was undertaken: on 8th September 1943 this was far from complete, and Cavour’s hulk was scrapped soon after war’s end. The Italian Navy was among the first naval powers to appreciate the importance of aircraft from and over the sea. The first Ita-lian flight license was released to Lt. Mario Calderara in 1913, when the Navy was te-sting and developing her first seaplanes in Venice already. Soon after, seaplanes be-gan to be used aboard warships for scou-

HISTORY

HISTORY ting and reconnaissance. Unluckily, betwe-en 1930 and 1940, when the Italian Navy undertook important naval construction programs, very few admirals understood the need for aircraft carriers: as a matter of fact, the game was won by “old-school” admirals, who strove for – and obtained – new battleship instead of carriers for the ‘Regia Marina’.Only in wartime it was understood that this had been a great mistake, but by now it was too late and Italy’s only WW II aircraft carrier - named Aquila and obtained from the hull of the former liner Roma – albeit almost complete at the time of the Italian armistice, was never commissioned.After World War II, the Italian Navy was the first in Europe to believe in the yet unte-sted potential of helicopters, particularly in the anti-submarine role, and in the late 1950s and early 1960 helicopters began to be embarked aboard frigates and cruisers.In more recent years, the evolution of the-se technical and operational concepts brought to a better understanding of the importance of an efficient and capable naval aviation and to the launching (in 1983) of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italy’s first ai-rcraft carrier.Garibaldi soon became the Italian Navy’s fundamental ship, and her AV-8B+ aircraft began to be appreciated as Italy’s most important assets in many sea based ope-rations and missions in the Mediterranean and in more distant areas. CVH550PORTAEREICAVOUR

The flight deck, 234 meters long, has six takeoff and landing spots for both aircraft and helicopters; along with two parking areas, one more spot is used by a search and rescue (SAR) and plane-guard heli-copter.The ship has two elevators able to lift up to 30 tons loads. They connect the flight deck with the hangar deck, and are used

for aircraft movements and their mainte-nance needs.The aircraft currently embarked on Cavour is the AV-8B+, a highly performing STOVL (Short Take-off and Vertical Landing) fighter used for fleet protection, combat air patrol (CAP), attack of both naval and land-based targets and close air support during amphibious and land operations.

AIRCRAFT CARRIER CAVOUR

CVH550PORTAEREICAVOUR

In the next future, the AV-8B+ will be re-placed by the new F-35B JSF (Joint Strike Fighter).Nowadays, all the helicopters in Italian na-val service may operate from Cavour and – particularly – the new Agusta-Westland EH-101 and SH-90.Technical data:Overall Length: 244 m.Height: 55 meters (14 decks)Range: 7.000 Nautical Miles (at 16 knots)Speed: 32 knots (max.), 28 kts (sustained)

Machinery: Four Gas Turbines (30.000 hp each), two shafts with variable pitch pro-pellers, among the biggest in the worldElectrical plant: six diesel-generators and two shaft-driven axial generators (17,6 MW)Armament: Surface-to-Air SAAM-IT missile system and 76mm guns.Crew: 545 (increased up to 1.200 according to assigned missions, with Air Group per-sonnel, Flag and Staff personnel, medical, special forces and amphibious marine bri-gade personnel.

CVH550PORTAEREICAVOUR

FOUR SHIPS IN ONEThe aircraft carrier “Cavour” has been projected to play four different roles: ai-rcraft carrier, amphibious and logistic ship, hospital ship, Command & Control ship.

Hospital shipThe medical capabilities of Cavour, that may be regarded as a floating hospital as well, are essential for crew support during military operations; nevertheless, these extensive capabilities are also crucial for humanitarian and disaster relief opera-tions.The hospital has 3 hospitalization rooms with 20 beds altogether (standard hospi-talization), one ICU (Intensive Care Unit) with 8 beds, 1 reanimation unit with 4 beds, 2 operating theaters, MRI and RX machines, a dental cabinet, a pharmacy and analysis laboratories.Moreover, through high-speed satellite data transmission and specific systems, doctors aboard can take advantage of al-most real time diagnosis made ashore by additional radiologists and surgeons.

CVH550PORTAEREICAVOUR

Logistic and amphibious platformCavour may conduct amphibious ope-rations by transporting and supporting a fully equipped task force and her landing units. Powerful EH-101 helicopters support personnel and provide transportation of weapons and supplies.The ship’s hangar features multiple main-tenance and storage areas and has two ac-cess ramps, one on the starboard side and one astern; both of them allow boarding by military vehicles of different sizes..

Command and control shipThe Cavour has been projected with en-hanced command, control and communi-cation capabilities.With more than 1.200 square meters of CIC (Combat Information Center – COC in Italian, i.e. Centrale Operativa Combatti-mento), the ship has state-of-art VHF, vi-deo and data link capabilities. These areas have 174 workstations linked each other in a highly performing net.Such tools give Cavour capabilities to com-mand and conduct naval, air and amphi-bious warfare; at the same time she may host aboard members of civilian units as Civil Protection, non-governmental orga-nizations, Red Cross, etc.

CVH550PORTAEREICAVOUR

CVH550PORTAEREICAVOUR

ACTIVITY PURSUEDCommissioned in 2008, the aircraft carrier Cavour soon undertook a highly deman-ding training program that, in a short time, granted her a full operational capability.Among the ship’s activities in recent years we may remember national and interna-tional exercises, the “White Crane” disaster relief mission in support of Haitian popu-lation after a earthquake in January 2011, and the circumnavigation of Africa in 2013 with Cavour being part of the 30th Naval Group. Such activities have enhanced the ship’s versatility and effectiveness as a re-sult of the dual-use design concept that has inspired her project

Cavour’s motto “In arduis servare mentem”, meaning “In distress, keep your soul unruf-fled”, comes from one of Horace’s “Odes”.

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