advise on aircraft testing and to help train future carrier pilots culled from 160 Gruppo C.T. of the Regia Aeronautica. They brought with them examples of a Junkers Ju 87C Stuka dive bomber (a navalized version with folding wings, arrester hook and catapult attachment points) and an Arado Ar 96B single-engine trainer. After conducting comparative flight trials, the Italians eventually settled on the Re.2001 as their standard carrier fighter/fighter-bomber and even the Germans concluded it had better potential than their own counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109T. All flight testing—including simulated braked deck landings—was land-based. Aquila′s planned air complement was 51 non-folding Reggiane Re.2001 OR fighter-bombers: 41 stowed in the hangar deck (including 15 suspended from the deck head) and 10 on the flight deck in a permanent deck park. A folding-wing version of the Re.2001 was planned, which would have increased the size of Aquila′s air group to 66 aircraft, but this never materialized. Only 10 Re.2001s were fully converted for carrier use. They were given tail hooks, RTG naval radio equipment and bomb racks for carrying of bombs. They were also armed with two Breda-SAFAT machine guns mounted above the engine cowling. At least one Re.2001G was under test at Perugia as a naval torpedo bomber and was given a lengthened tail wheel strut to accommodate the added height of a torpedo suspended below the fuselage. Fate Aquila was nearing completion and had passed her first static test when Italy surrendered to the Allies on 8 September 1943. Germany then seized the ship and placed it under guard. Aquila was later damaged on 16 June 1944, during an Allied air attack on Genoa. Near the end of the war, the Italian "co-belligerent" government feared the Germans might use Aquila as a blockship in the entrance to Genoa harbor. They sent divers from the former Decima Flottiglia MAS, who on 19 April 1945 partially scuttled Aquila in a harmless location. Raised in 1946, Aquila was later towed to La Spezia in 1949. Consideration was given to completing her or converting her to some other use. She was eventually scrapped in 1952. See also Italian aircraft carrier Sparviero References Bibliography External links Portaerei Aquila – Plancia di Comando Aquila Marina Militare website Ships built in Genoa 1941 ships Aircraft carriers of the Regia Marina World War II aircraft carriers of Italy Naval ships of Italy captured by Germany during World War