Italian battleship Roma ( 1940 ) Roma , named after two previous ships and the city of Rome , was the third of Italy ' s " Regia Marina " ( ) . The construction of both " Roma " and her sister ship was planned due to rising tensions around the world and the navy ' s fear that two " Littorio " s and the older pre - First World War battleships were not enough to counter the British and French Mediterranean Fleets . As " Roma " was laid down almost four years after the first two ships of the class , some small improvements were made to the design , including additional freeboard added to the bow . " Roma " was commissioned into the " Regia Marina " on 14 June 1942 , but a severe fuel shortage in Italy at that time prevented her from being deployed ; instead , along with her sister ships and , she was used to bolster the anti - aircraft defenses of various Italian cities . In this role , she was severely damaged twice in June 1943 from bomber raids on La Spezia . After repairs in Genoa through all of July and part of August , " Roma " was deployed as the flagship of Admiral Carlo Bergamini in a large battle group that eventually comprised the three " Littorio " s , eight cruisers and eight destroyers . Their stated intent was attacking the Allied ships approaching Salerno to invade Italy ( Operation " Avalanche " ) but , in reality , the Italian fleet was sailing to Malta to surrender following Italy ' s September 8 , 1943 armistice with the Allies . While the force was in the Strait of Bonifacio , Dornier Do 217 s of the German " Luftwaffe " s " Kampfgeschwader " 100 — armed with Fritz X radio - controlled bombs — the pioneering deployment of any sort of unpowered , free - fall precision - guided munition in military history — sighted the force . The first attack failed , but the second dealt " Italia " ( ex - " Littorio " ) and " Roma " much damage . The hit on " Roma " caused water to flood two boiler rooms and the after engine room , leaving the ship to limp along with two propellers , reduced power , and arc - induced fires in the stern of the ship . Shortly thereafter , another bomb slammed into the ship which detonated within the forward engine room , causing catastrophic flooding and the explosion of the # 2 main turret ' s magazines , throwing the turret itself into the sea . Sinking by the bow and leaning to starboard , " Roma " capsize d and broke in two , carrying 1253 , including Bergamini and the ship ' s captain Adone Del Cima , down with her . In her 15 - month service life , " Roma " made 20 sorties , mostly in transfers between bases ( none were to go into combat ) , covering and using of fuel oil in 133 hours of sailing . Background . The Italian leader Benito Mussolini did not authorize any large naval rearmament until 1933 . Once he did , two old battleships of the were sent to be modernized in the same year , and and were laid down in 1934 . In May 1935 , the Italian Naval Ministry began preparing for a five - year naval building program that would include four battleships , three aircraft carrier s , four cruisers , fifty - four submarines , and forty smaller ships . In December 1935 , Admiral Domenico Cavagnari proposed to Mussolini that , among other things , two more battleships of the " Littorio " class be built to attempt to counter a possible Franco - British alliance — if the two countries combined forces , they would easily outnumber the Italian fleet . Mussolini postponed his decision , but later authorized planning for the two ships in January 1937 . In December , they were approved and money was appropriated for them ; they were named " Roma " and ( English : " Empire " ) . Laid down nearly four years after " Vittorio Veneto " and " Littorio " , " Roma " was able to incorporate a few design improvements . Her bow was noticeably redesigned to give " Roma " additional freeboard ; partway into construction , it was modified on the basis of experience with " Vittorio Veneto " so that it had had a finer end at the waterline . She was also equipped with 32 rather than 24 , / 65 caliber Breda guns . Construction and commissioning . " Roma " s keel was laid by the Italian shipbuilder " Cantieri Riuniti dell ' Adriatico " on 18 September 1938 and she was launched on 9 June 1940 . After just over two years of fitting - out , the new battleship was commissioned into the " Regia Marina " on 14 June 1942 . She arrived in the major naval base of Taranto on 21 August of the same year and was assigned to the Ninth Naval Division . Although " Roma " took part in training exercises and was moved to various bases including Taranto , Naples and La Spezia , in the next year , she did not go on any combat missions as the Italian Navy was desperately short of fuel . In fact , by the end of 1942 , the only combat - ready battleships in the navy were the three " Vittorio Veneto " s because the fuel shortage had caused the four modernized battleships to be removed from service . When combined with a lack of capable vessels to escort the capital ship s , the combat potential of the Italian Navy was virtually non - existent . On 6 December she was transferred with " Vittorio Veneto " and " Littorio " from Taranto to La Spezia , where she became the flagship of the " Regia Marina " . They remained here through the first half of 1943 without going on any operations . During this time , La Spezia was attacked many times by Allied bomber groups . Attacks on 14 and 19 April 1943 did not hit " Roma " , but an American raid on 5 June severely damaged both " Vittorio Veneto " and " Roma " . B - 17 aircraft carrying armor - piercing bombs damaged the stationary battleships with two bombs each . " Roma " suffered from two near hits on either side of her bow . The starboard - side bomb hit the ship but passed through the side of the hull before exploding . The ship began taking on water through leaks from frames 221 to 226 — an area covering about — and through flooding from the bow to frame 212 . The second bomb missed but exploded in the water near the hull . Leaks were discovered over a area ranging from frames 198 and 207 . Approximately of water entered the ship . " Roma " was damaged again by two bombs in another raid on 23 – 24 June . One hit the ship aft and to starboard of the rear main battery turret and obliterated several staterooms , which were promptly flooded from broken piping . The second landed atop the rear turret itself , but little damage was suffered due to the heavy armor in that location . This attack did not seriously damage " Roma " or cause any flooding , but she nevertheless sailed to Genoa for repairs . " Roma " reached the city on 1 July and returned to La Spezia on 13 August once repairs were complete . Loss . Along with many of the principal units of the Italian fleet — including " Vittorio Veneto " and " Italia " ( the ex - " Littorio " ) — the cruisers , , and , and eight destroyers — " Roma " sailed from La Spezia as the flagship of Admiral Carlo Bergamini on 2 September 1943 . The original orders were to attack , in a " last mission " , the Allied naval forces supporting the landings expected in the south - western coast of the Italian peninsula , as their concentration had been sighted in the morning of September 8 , between Palermo and Naples . Admiral Bergamini was not informed by the Italian Navy Command ( ) that the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces has been signed , in great secrecy , at Cassibile , on September 3 , but was ordered not to sail until he received further orders , as it had been learned that the Allies wanted to proclaim this armistice that very afternoon . After the broadcast , from Algiers , of the proclamation of the Armistice by General Eisenhower , Admiral Bergamini was informed that , conforming to the clauses of the Armistice , all the Navy ' s surface units had to be transferred to Bona , Algeria . Reluctant to accept the Armistice arrangements , Admiral Bergamini obtained instructions from Supermarina to sail for Maddalena , in the north of Sardinia , where he would receive other orders if necessary . As the Fleet , now joined by three cruisers from Genoa , , , and , steamed west of Corsica and prepared to enter the Strait of Bonifacio , Admiral Bergamini was warned that the Germans had occupied Maddalena . In the meantime , the " Luftwaffe " had sent Dornier Do 217 s under the command of Bernhard Jope armed with the Fritz X radio - controlled bomb from airfields in the South of France ( Nimes - Garons or Istres ) to attack the ships . The German aircraft caught up with the force off the Island of Asinara . The Do 217s trailed the fleet for some time , but the Italian fleet did not open fire upon them . The aircraft were trailing the fleet at such a distance that it was impossible to identify them , and Bergamini believed they were the air cover promised to them by the Allies . At 15 : 37 the aircraft attacked . All ships began evasive maneuvers and fired their anti - aircraft batteries . " Italia " was hit on the starboard side underneath her forward main turrets , while " Roma " suffered a starboard hit between frames 100 and 108 . This bomb penetrated clean through the ship and exploded beneath the ship ' s keel , damaging the hull girder and allowing water to flood the after engine room and two boiler rooms . The flooding caused the inboard propellers to stop for want of power and started a large amount of arcing , which itself caused electrical fires in the aft half of the ship . Losing power and speed , " Roma " began to fall out of the battle group . Around 16 : 02 , another Fritz X slammed into the starboard side of the " Roma " s deck , between frames 123 and 136 . It most probably detonated in the forward engine room , sparking flames and causing heavy flooding in the magazines of main battery turret number two and the fore port side secondary battery turret , and putting even more pressure on the previously stressed hull girder . Seconds after the initial blast , the number two 15 - inch ( 381 - mm ) turret was blown over the side by a massive explosion , this time from the detonation of that turret ' s magazines . This caused additional catastrophic flooding in the bow , and the battleship began to go down by the bow while listing more and more to starboard . The ship quickly capsize d and broke in two . " Roma " had a crew of 1 , 849 when she sailed ; 596 survived and 1 , 253 men went down with her . At the first news of the attack on the Italian warships , Supermarina requested Malta to provide air escort , but all Allied planes were covering the Salerno landing , and the Italian fleet , which was now under Admiral Da Zara , was ordered to proceed to Malta . The cruiser " Attilio Regolo " , three destroyers and an escort vessel rescued the survivors of the " Roma " and went on to Port Mahon , in the Balearic Islands . When the Italian Fleet arrived in Valletta , Malta , Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham sent the following message to the Admiralty : " Please to inform your Lordships that the Italian battle fleet now lies at anchor under the guns of the fortress of Malta . " Wreck discovery . The sunken vessel was found in June 2012 by the underwater robot ' Pluto Palla , ' designed by Italian engineer Guido Gay . It was discovered about off the northern coast of Sardinia at a depth of around . On 10 September 2012 a memorial ceremony was held on an Italian frigate over the spot where " Roma " went down . Giampaolo Di Paola , himself a former naval officer and now the defence minister , at the ceremony described the dead sailors as " unwitting heroes who found their place in history because they carried out their duty right until the end " .