Stukas in the Italian Airforce

Anyone ever heard about Italy ordering Junkers Ju-87 "Stuka" dive bombers. I recently read it in "The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in WWII". If Italia did order them, when were they to be delivered?

Thanks,
11th Airborne

 

That's a good question, 11th. Italy certainly used considerable numbers of Stukas in the Mediterranean.

I'll try to look in some of my books today to see if I can find out how/when they were supplied, and in what numbers.....

 

Found some pics in the net:


http://members.tripod.com/Roberto_Lionello/nino/four.htm

Over 5,700 Ju-87’s of all versions were built, serving not only with the Deutsche Luftwaffe but also with the Italian Regia Aeronautica who dubbed the type the Picchiatello (striker)....

Ju 87 in Italy
One of the weaknesses of the Italian Regia Aeronautica was its lack of dive bombers. The Italian attempts to develop such an aircraft had ended in a complete and ridiculous failure: The SM85 was abandoned after the type flew a single mission.
Yet it was clear that dive bombers were a very effective weapon against British ships in the Mediterranean. As was proven by the Germans when sent Stukageschwader I and II to the help the Italians. The Stukas badly damaged the carrier Illustrious, sank the cruiser Southampton, damaged several other ships, and nearly cut off the supply line to the besieged Tobruk.

So by 1941 the Italians received 46 B-1s, 50 B-2s, 59 R-2s. In 1943 they received an additional 46 aircraft, D-2s and D-3s. The Italians gave the aircraft the nickname Picchiatelli, which means "Striker". Although the Italians were trained initially to use the same tactics as the Germans, who did dive vertically on their targets in small groups, they soon developed their own methods. Rather oddly, the Italians also used the Ju 87 for the method which later became known as skip bombing -- horizontal attacks at very low level, dropping their bombs in such way that they would bounce of the water and hit the attacked ship on the waterline. The advantage of this method of attacking was that the target was hit on the waterline, and a dive directly into the defensive fire was avoided.

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_other/ju87.html

http://digilander.libero.it/enniotarantola/TarantolaModBianchiJu87.htm

 

Wow so many Stukas! I can't believe this isn't more commonly recorded in books. I have only seen that Stukas in the Italian Air Force once, and that was in the book previously stated. Thanks for the great information Petri.

11th Airborne

 

No problemo us11th!

I learned myself a lot too!

Some pics in the net...







http://digilander.libero.it/enniotarantola/TarantolaProfiloFoto01.htm

 

I've often wondered about the use of Regia Aeronautica aircraft against 'Operation Pedestal' in 1942. ( Pedestal is now famous for the survival of the tanker Ohio ).

Most reports refer to 'Luftwaffe bombers' but I beleive the RA were vary active against the convoy, too.

 

Another one and more Italian planes:

http://www.ams.vr.it/AircWalkAround/Fotostoriche/Fotostoriche.htm