CAVOUR

[shipstamps]

Built as a light V/STOL aircraft carrier by Fincantier1 Shipyards in Italy for the Italian Navy.
22 November 2000 a contract was signed between the shipyard and the Italian Ministry of Naval Defence to built this aircraft carrier.
July 2001 building commenced.
20 July 2004 launched from the Riva Trigoso yard in Genoa, under the name CAVOUR, named after the Italian politician Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, her intended name was first LUIGI EINAUDI, then ANDREA DORIA but before launching changed. The launching ceremony was performed by Mrs. Antonella Augusta di San Martino di San Germano, and the vessel was blessed by the Archbishop of Genoa, H.E. Tarcisio Bertone.
Displacement 27.100 ton standard, dim. 244 x 39 x 7.5m. (draught)
Powered by four General Electric LM2500 COGAG gas turbines, each 22.000 kW, and are manufactured by FiatAvio in Turin. The four turbines are geared to two shafts, 120.000 shp, twin rudders and twin propellers, speed maximum 29 knots.
Range by 16 knots, 7.000 mile.
Fitted out with a bow and stern thrusters.
Two pairs of active stabilizing fins.
Armament VLS for 32 Aster-15 SAAM/IT missiles, 2 – 76mm Oto Melara guns, 3 – 25mm AA guns.
When completed she can support 8 VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, or 12 helicopters.
She can be used as an aircraft carrier as well as a transport for wheeled and tracked vehicles for both military and civil missions.
Her aircraft hangars can accommodate 100 light vehicles or 24 main battle tanks for amphibious missions.
Also she can support for LCVP landing craft.
To embark these vehicles she has two access ramps.
Crew; will have accommodation for 451crew, 203 air group, 140 amphibious command task force 140, and 416 marines.
Delivery will be in 2007, and commissioned in 2008.

Italy must be very proud of this aircraft carrier, to depict it on a stamp before it is commissioned.

Source: http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/num/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_ai ... ier_Cavour some other web-sites.

[Arturo]

Cavour (Aircraft Carrier) 2009

Cavour is an Italian aircraft carrier that is the newest flagship and the largest unit of the Italian Navy (Marina Militare) which was launched in 2004. She is named after the Italian statesman and politician Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour.

The ship is designed to combine fixed wing V/STOL and helicopter air operations, command and control operations and the transport of military or civil personnel and heavy vehicles. The 134 m (440 ft), 2,800 m2(30,000 sq ft) hangar space can double as a vehicle hold capable of holding up to 24 main battle tanks (typically Ariete) or many more lighter vehicles (50 Dardo IFV, 100+ Iveco LMV), and is fitted aft with access ramps rated to 70 tons, as well as two elevators rated up to 30 tons for aircraft. Cavour can also operate as landing platform helicopter, accommodating heavy transport helicopters (AgustaWestland UH-101A ASH) and 325 marines.

Cavour has a displacement of 27,900 tons but can reach more than 30,000 tons at full military capacity, after improvements done in 2008.

Initially she was to be named after Luigi Einaudi, then Admiral Andrea Doria, before receiving her current title. Now that Cavour has become operational, it is the nuova unità maggiore (NUM, or "new main unit") of the Marina Militare, complementing Giuseppe Garibaldi, the other aircraft carrier in service.

See Topic: “Giuseppe Garibaldi 1983”

The ship was originally constructed in two sections (bow and stern) then later joined together.

The Italian Navy will replace its 16 Harriers with 15 (originally 22) Lockheed Martin FV-35Bs within the next few years. The F-35 schedule is uncertain at the moment, but it is planned to modify Cavour to support the F-35 by 2016. Cavour will have room for ten FV-35Bs in the hangar, and six more parked on deck.

Cavour was laid down by Fincantieri on 17 July 2001, and she was launched from the Riva Trigoso shipyard in Sestri Levante, on 20 July 2004. Sea trials began in December 2006, and she was officially commissioned 27 March 2008. Full operational capability (FOC) was reached 10 June 2009.

On 19 January 2010, Cavour was dispatched to Haiti as part of Operation White Crane, Italy's operation for 2010 Haiti earthquake relief. This was the first mission of the aircraft carrier, where it supplemented international efforts to provide relief for the victims of the January 2010 earthquake.

Source: Wikipedia