Thursday - Completed in the Venice arsenal the work of conversion into a seaplane support vessel, the cruiser Elba it is classified as 2nd class auxiliary vessel and transferred to Taranto.

The works concerned above all the center-aft area of ​​the ship, with the landing of the guns and the construction of a platform a little less than 30 me raised above the bridge deck, and a large canopy aft of the second funnel.

The result of the transformation works was summed up in the ability to transport, handle and operate a squadron of three-four Curtiss FB seaplanes and a Draken aerostat for observation, American and Germanic construction machines respectively. The canopy was closed laterally by two waterproof tarpaulins which allowed a pair of aircraft to be sheltered from the elements and provided limited maintenance interventions. Essentially theElba it represented a low cost and low risk choice and a clear demonstration of the substantially subordinate role of the battleships that the Marines of the time gave to the first experiments in the field of embarked aviation.

Source: Military Navy