Savoia-Marchetti SM.79

Brazil and Iraq

Attempts were also made to gain large-scale export orders, but only two other countries finalized contracts, with twin-engined versions being supplied to Brazil (three with 694 kW/930 hp [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines) and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (four with 768 kW/1,030 hp [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] RC.14 engines).

Regia Aeronautica

Almost 600 SM.79-I and –II aircraft were in service when Italy entered World War II, and these aircraft were deployed in every theatre of war in which the Italians fought.

The 12° Stormo (Wing) was the first to be equipped with the SM.79, starting in early 1936. 12 Wing was involved in the initial evaluation of the bomber, which continued throughout 1936.

The Wing went operational on 1 May 1936 with the SM.79 successfully completing torpedo launches from a target distance of 5 km (3.1 mi) in August 1936.

The torpedo bomber variant was much more unstable and harder to control than the civilian version (and much less precise than its successor, the SM.81).

ts capabilities were still being explored when the Spanish Civil War broke out, and a number of SM.79s were dispatched to support the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].


By 4 November 1936, there were only six SM.79s with enough crew to fly them operating in Spain.

At the beginning of 1937, there were 15 SM.79s in total, and they went on to be used in Spain throughout the conflict, with very few losses. Around 19 of the total sent there were lost.

Deliveries to 12 Wing and other units involved numbered at least 99 aircraft.

The first recorded interception of an SM.79 formation took place on 11 October 1937 when three aircraft were attacked by 12 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].


One of the SM.79s was damaged but its defensive armament prevented close-up attacks.

All bombers returned to base, although one had been hit by 27 bullets, many hitting the fuel tanks.

Other interceptions occurred in the conflict without any SM.79s being lost^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}.

Combat experience revealed some deficiencies in the SM.79: the lack of oxygen at high altitudes, instability, vibrations experienced at speeds over 400 km/h (250 mph) and other problems were encountered and sometimes solved.

General Valle, in an attempt to answer some of the criticisms about the ability of the aircraft to operate at night, took off from [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and bombed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], a journey of six hours and 15 minutes.

On this occasion the aircraft proved it had a useful range (around 1,000 km/620 mi with eight 100 kg (220 lb) bombs, for a total gross weight of around 1,000 kg/2,200 lb).

SM.79s operated from the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and later from mainland Spain. Hundreds of missions were performed in a wide range of roles against Republican targets.

No [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were needed to escort the SM.79s, partly because the biplane fighters were too slow.

After serving in the Spanish Civil War, the Sparviero came into use with 111° and 8° Wing. By the end of 1939, there were 388 Sparvieros in service, with 11 wings partially or totally made up of this aircraft.

They also participated in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in autumn 1939.

By the beginning of World War II 612 aircraft had been delivered, making the Sparviero the most numerous bomber in the whole of the Regia Aereonautica, assigned to a total of 14 wings (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 30, 32, 33, 34, 36, 41 and 46).

^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}Not all of these wings had Gruppi (groups) entirely equipped with the SM.79.

Every squadron had around nine to 10 aircraft, but this included second line aircraft, so the force of each squadron consisted on average of around seven to eight bombers, and every wing had around 30 bombers.

Among these units; 8, 9, 11, 12, 30, 32, 36, 41 and 46 Stormi (Wings) were based in Italy, and participated in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

They were equipped with a total of around 350 SM.79s, including those used in training squadrons, and over Malta

Malta

It was on the fortress-island in the centre of the Mediterranean in June 1940 that the SM.79s started to lose their reputation of invulnerability, when [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were encountered.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien][Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}
The first of many Sparvieros shot down over Malta fell on 22 June.

That day a reconnaissance mission Sparviero M.M.22068 of 216a Squadriglia piloted by Tenente Francesco Solimene took off at 18.15 to check the eventual targets on the island.

Two Gladiators were scrambled, one piloted by Flt Lt George Burges.


Over [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Burges attacked the Sparviero from superior height, shooting off the port engine.


The SM.79 caught fire and crashed in the sea off [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The pilot, Solimene, and1° Aviere Armiere Torrisi, were rescued from sea, but the other four crew members were lost.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

And it was again a "Sparviero" the first plane to fall on Maltese soil, in World War II.

On 10 July 1940, an estimated twenty SM.79s without escort arrived to bomb the Dockyard, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

But they were attacked by Gloster Gladiators and the bomber piloted by Sottotenente Felice Filippi from 195a Squadriglia, 90° Gruppo, 30° Stormo Bombardamento Terrestre, came down in flames just behind the Knight's watchtower east of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The air victory was credited to Flying Officer Frederick Taylor.

At least one Italian bailed out with his parachute on fire but did not survive.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

Other war theaters

A small number operated in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

On the western side of Italian East Africa was 44° Gruppo, based at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], consisting of the 6a and 7a Squadriglie, with 12 Savoia SM.79s.

Four SM.79s were part of the reserve forces while two were under repair. ^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien][Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}
The Sparviero was the only type present that had not participated in the previous war with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The SM.79s of Italian East Africa entered in action on 13 June 1940.


That day, nine Savoia Marchetti of 44° Gruppo based on Diredawa took off to attack Aden.

The SM.79 flown by Sottotenente Ruffini was hit by anti-aircraft fire from a British warship and crashed. Then, two Gloster Gladiators intercepted the bombers.

The one flown by Pilot Officer Stephenson attacked the "Sparviero" of Capitano Serafini, damaged by anti-aircraft fire, but the dorsal gunner of the SM.79 hit its aircooler, forcing him to crash-land.

Serafini managed to land at Assab, but his aircraft was written-off. Another Savoia Marchetti was damaged, but landed on the same base.

^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}These few aircraft were later reinforced by others, and modified to fly at an economical speed over Sudan for the hazardous journey of over 2,000 km (1,240 mi).

They could not, however, do much to save the Italian situation in Ethiopia and they were forced to surrender in the spring of 1941.

The same period saw the five Iraqi SM.79Bs and the 45 SM.79Ks in Yugoslavian service unable to mount a successful defence in both Iraq and Yugoslavia.