Regia Marina - aerial recon aircraft - italian navy in ww2 AI, 60fps, Colourized

The IMAM was an Italian reconnaissance single float seaplane, serving in the Regia Marina (royal italian navy) between 1935 and 1943. The aircraft's good endurance meant that seaplanes could still be useful in the constrained Mediterranean. Six launched from light cruisers played a role in spotting the British fleet during the battle of Calabria, in the opening months of the war. One of them, departing from the cruiser Eugenio di Savoia, kept visual contact with the battleship HMS Warspite during the exchange of fire between the British capital ship and the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare before being chased off by a Sea Gladiator from the carrier HMS Eagle. Near the end of 1940, a lone launched by the heavy cruiser Bolzano was the first to spot the British fleet at the beginning of the battle of Cape Spartivento, at 9:45 while the seaplane of Gorizia located the British convoy at 11:45. British Skuas from the carrier HMS Ark Royal claimed to have shot down one seaplane after a fruitless bombing on the Italian fleet, purportedly an from the battleship Vittorio Veneto. The performance of the in this battle was eulogized by the Italian supreme command. Another launched by Vittorio Veneto pinpointed the British cruiser squadron at 6:35 during the engagement near Gavdos island, the prelude of the Battle of Cape Matapan, on 28 March 1941. A cruiser-borne signaled the presence of the British convoy by dropping flares during the Second Battle of Sirte, while another seaplane from the battleship Littorio directed the fire of the Italian fleet onto the British squadron before disengaging at 17:24. The continued to take part in shipborne operations as late as June 1942, during the Italian cruiser attack on the Harpoon convoy. One of the Italian seaplanes was shot down by a Bristol Beaufighter from Malta in the course of this action. One hundred and five aircraft were in service at the start of World War II, more than enough to equip the major surface units of the Italian Navy, but soon a better aircraft was requested, possibly a navalized fighter. This resulted in a small series being built of a naval version of the Reggiane that could be catapulted but was not fitted with floats so had to either return to a land base or ditch, in a similar fashion to the Hawker Hurricanes operated by British CAM ships. The best feature were the folding wings, but even so the maximum carried on board was usually two. This, together with the modest possibilities of recovery and the lack of experience with naval aviation (even though the Italian Navy possessed a seaplane carrier, the Giuseppe Miraglia) limited the use of the aircraft in combat. Approximately 200-240 were produced until 1941, with 48 still in service in 1943. 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱, 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱, 𝗔𝗜 𝗲𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [** ☀️ Subscribe to support the channel ☀️ **] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 🔗 Sources: 1. - Archivio Luce = ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***Copyright fair use notice*** All media used in this video is used for the purpose of education under the terms of fair use. All footage and images used belong to their copyright holders, when applicable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #militaryfootage #ww2 #ww2clip #deoldify #historicalvideos #ai #color #colouredclip #1940 #colorized #ww2 #historical #warvideo #warvideos #enhanced #combatfootage #ww2edit #warfootage #IMAM #ro41 #regiaaeronautica #italianairforce #worldwartwo #worldwar2 #ww2history #regiamarina #marinamilitare #italiannavy