View source for HMS Azalia D’Orio (BB-AC-002)

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:HMS ''Azalia D’Orio'' (BB-AC-002)}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{infobox ship image
|Ship image          = [[File:HMSAzaliaDOrioBBAC002.png|350px]]
|Ship caption        = HMS ''Azalia D’Orio'' as camouflaged at the start of the Siduri War in 1934
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header         =
|Ship country        = Cacerta
|Ship flag           = [[Image:CRNEnsign.png|67px]]
|Ship name           = HMS ''Azalia D’Orio''
|Ship namesake       = [[Azalia D’Orio|Admiral Azalia D’Orio]]
|Ship ordered        = 17 January 1930
|Ship builder        = [[Royal Shipbuilders of Cacerta]]
|Ship laid down      = 20 July 1930
|Ship launched       = 10 October 1932
|Ship sponsor        = 
|Ship commissioned   = 14 December 1932
|Ship decommissioned = 
|Ship struck         = 15 May 1936
|Ship motto          = ''“Strength from the Sea”''
|Ship nickname       = ''Grand Lady''
|Ship honors         = [[Siduri War]]: 7
|Ship fate           = Scuttled after suffering incapacitating damage during the [[Battle of the Sabri Sea]], 25 November 1935 in the Sabri Sea
|Ship status         = 
|Ship notes          =
|Ship badge          = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header         =
|Header caption      =
|Ship class          = [[Amika Carpio-Class Battleship|''Amika Carpio''-Class Battleship]]
|Ship displacement   = {{Unbulleted list|40,062 tons standard|54,528 tons fully loaded}}
|Ship length         = 25 meters
|Ship beam           = 36 meters
|Ship draft          = 10.4 meters
|Ship propulsion     = {{Unbulleted list|2 × CNRC geared turbines|16 × Andura superheated boilers|4 × shafts each driving five-bladed propellers|113,020 kW (151,500 shp)}}
|Ship speed          = 34 knots (63 km/h) on light load
|Ship range          = 8,800 nautical miles at 19 knots
|Ship complement     = 1,818 officers and crew
|Ship sensors        =
|Ship EW             =
|Ship armament       = {{Unbulleted list|'''Guns:'''|8 × [[Cacertian RN-MBII Naval Gun|405mm RN-MBII naval guns]]|16 × 150mm RN-SBI guns|'''Dual Purpose:'''|16 × 105mm RN-DPVI dual-purpose guns|'''Anti-Aircraft'''|20 × 40mm RN-AAIV anti-aircraft guns|16 × 20mm RN-AAIII anti-aircraft guns}}
|Ship armor          = {{Unbulleted list|'''Belt:''' 280 – 320 mm|'''Deck:''' 115 – 120 mm|'''Barbettes:''' 335 – 340 mm|'''Turrets:''' 490 – 500 mm|'''Conning tower:''' 292 mm|'''Bulkheads:''' 223 mm}}
|Ship aircraft       =
|Ship notes          = 
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Azalia D’Orio'' (BB-AC-002)''' was the second of only two [[Amika Carpio-Class Battleship|''Amika Carpio''-class]] {{wpl|battleship|battleships}} built for the [[Cacertian Royal Navy]] in the early 1930s. Along with her sister ship, [[HMS Amika Carpio (BB-AC-001)|HMS ''Amika Carpio'']], the ''Azalia'' was one of the heaviest warships in [[Tyran]] when she was put to sea in 1932.

She served as the flagship for [[Marzia Triola|Admiral Marzia Triola]] while she was in command of the [[Cacertian Andria Fleet|Task Force Andria]] based out of [[Paviolo]] and served during the [[Siduri War]]. In early 1935, she was torpedoed by a Syaran submarine and forced to make port in [[Andria]] for repairs and returned for service that same month.

Present at the [[Battle of the Sabri Sea]], she served as the lead ship for Formation 3—which consisted primarily of ships of the Andria Fleet—and was one of the first warships to contact Syaran surface forces during the combat. The ''Azalia'' suffered several hundred hits from gunfire and torpedoes and was so heavily damaged by the end of the battle that she was deemed combat ineffective. Her double-hull construction alongside her well-trained damage control crew and water-tight compartments, however, prevented her from sinking. After attempts to place her under tow failed, she was scuttled with minimal loss of life.

==Design==
The construction of the ''Azalia D’Orio'' was closely observed and supervised by her designer, [[Eugenia Davion]]. Her keel was laid down not long after that of her sister ship and many of the lessons learned during the construction of the ''Amika Carpio'' were later used to speed up and smooth the production of the ''Azalia''. Despite this, however, the construction of the ''Azalia'' still required lengthy inspection and testing of the integrity of her complex double-hull and armor design.

With the exception of a few minor characteristic changes, the ''Azalia'' was a near copy of her sister ship at a length of 250 meters and a beam of 36 meters. Her hull was very heavily armored and, after her adoption as the {{wpl|Flagship|flagship}} of the [[Cacertian Andria Fleet|Andria Fleet]], she was later given the nickname ''”Grand Lady”''.

Although she closely matched the ''Amika'' in terms of power generated and average speed, she was not able to beat the ''Amika''’s top speed of 34 knots on a light load. Her powerplant was also made up of sixteen Andura superheated boilers powering CNRC geared turbines. Her average fuel load was 5,000 tons with an estimated service range of 8,800 {{wpl|nautical miles}} at a stead speed of 19 knots.

===Armament===
The ''Azalia'' was armed with eight 405mm [[Cacertian RN-MBII Naval Gun|RN-MBII naval guns]] in twin hydraulically power gun turrets in an unconventional, aggressive configuration. Three of the turrets were located on the ship’s bow with turrets II and III in a {{wpl|Superfiring|superfiring configuration}} and turret I located in front of turret II. The ship’s gun were capable of depressing -5° and elevating to +45°, with the exception of turret III whose guns were locked to depressing 0° as a result of its position above turret II. The turrets aboard the ''Azalia'' had a turn rate of 4° per second for a 180° turret traverse of 45 seconds. Each turret could be trained independently of the fire-control system as each had their own range-finders. This ability, however, was never used in combat as Cacertian naval doctrine believed in focusing combined firepower rather than attempting to engage multiple targets at the same time.

Similar to her sister ship, the ''Azalia'' also possessed a secondary armament of sixteen 150mm [[Cacertian RN-SBI Gun|RN-SBI guns]] in wing-mounted dual gun turrets with four on the port and starboard. The maximum engagement distances of the ''Azalia''’s secondary battery was 23 kilometers at maximum gun elevation. There were initial plans to include six 550mm torpedo tubes on board the ''Azalia'', but these plans were later scrapped as it was thought that the she would never within close enough range to engage with a torpedo armament.

The secondary battery was also supplemented with sixteen dual-purpose 105mm [[Cacertian RN-DPIV Dual-Purpose Gun|RN-DPVI cannons]] that were capable of engaging surface targets up to 17.5 kilometers away. These cannons were also equipped with air-burst shell that had a service ceiling of nearly 10 kilometers when engaging aircraft.

The ''Azalia''’s anti-air defense was comprised of twenty 40mm [[Cacertian RN-AAIV Anti-Aircraft Gun|RN-AAIV anti-aircraft guns]] alongside sixteen 20mm [[Cacertian RN-AAIII Anti-Aircraft Gun|RN-AAIII guns]]. 

===Fire Control===
The ''Azalia''’s fire control system consisted of two {{wpl|fire-control system|fire-control directors}} located on the fore and aft of the superstructure with the first mounted directly above the bridge and the second near the rear, just behind the fourth turret. As with the ''Amika'', her directors were fitted 5-meter range-finders alongside the 10-meter range-finders equipped per turret.

==Construction==
The ''Azalia''’s keel was laid down on 20 July 1930, approximately two months after the construction of the ''Amika Carpio'' had already begun. As with her sister ship, her construction was closely observed by Eugenia Davion with the same hull integrity tests taken at length prior to the next stage of construction. The main hull was finished in the first months of 1936 and the superstructure was constructed and completed by November of the same year.

Construction was delayed in order to re-evaluate the structural integrity of her turrets as it was discovered that the intended 405mm guns built for the main battery put too much stress on internal structure. Following the construction of the new turret housings, construction resumed in 1937.

On 10 October 1932, ''Azalia'' was launched with Admiral D’Orio’s son in attendance as she was currently deployed in [[Andria Protectorate|Andria]]. She closely followed her sister ship to [[Paviolo]] where she completed in {{wpl|fitting-out}} before the start of her {{wpl|sea trial|sea trials}} in late November. ''Azalia'' was officially commissioned on 14 December 1932 and was assigned to the [[Cacertian Andria Fleet|Andria Fleet]] with which she would serve for her entire career.

==Service History==


===Sabri Sea Campaign (1935)===
====Battle of the Sabri Sea====
{{main|Battle of the Sabri Sea}}


==Wreckage==
===Discovery by Iwao Harada===
The wreckage of the ''Azalia D’Orio'' was discovered on 22 June 1992 by {{wpl|Oceanographer|oceanographer}} Dr. Iwao Harada of [[Akashi|Akashi’s]] Hirakawa University. She was found to be resting upright at a depth of approximately 3,772 meters and nearly 452 kilometers north of the city of Mantua. The ''Azalia'' was observed as being heavily embedded into the {{wpl|Abyssal plain|abyssal plain}} and—despite a severely damaged prow as a result of sinking bow first—Harada noted the overall structural integrity of the ship had been preserved.

Harada’s subsequent inspection of the ship’s {{wpl|Armored citadel|armored citadel}} found no underwater penetrations. Extensive damage was inflicted on the overall ship, however. Eleven holes were found on the hull all of which were above the waterline; eight on the port side and three on the starboard. Two holes were found on the ship’s deck forward of the superstructure, one forward of Turret I and the other penetrating close to the portside of Turret III’s structure although it failed to penetrate the turret’s armored housing. Significant denting was recorded on the ships belt armor, with many of these shots failing to penetrate.

The ''Azalia''’s hull had no evidence of internal implosions often caused when a vessel that has not fully flooded sinks. Since the hull was found in good condition, the expedition supports the Cacertian battle report that claimed the ship had been scuttled instead of sunk by enemy fire. The exact location of the wreck has been kept secret by Harada and his expedition to prevent freelance divers from taking artefacts from the ship’s remains.

===Analysis of the Wreckage===
Utilizing the information provided by Harada, experts agree that the ''Azalia'' could have been successfully towed back to Cacerta to be salvaged or repaired as the vessel had not received significant damage below the waterline. A second expedition conducted jointly by Akashi and Cacerta found that no shells had managed to penetrate the second layer of armor protecting the inner hull. It is generally assumed that the decision to scuttle the ship was to prevent her from being captured. By the time the Battle of Varano had concluded, significant numbers on both sides had been heavily damaged and all Cacertian vessels that would have been capable of towing the ''Azalia'' were either low on fuel or were in dire need of repair.

==Battle Honors==
''Azalia'' earned a total of seven battle crosses for her service during the Siduri War and received a number of additional awards, several of which were awarded posthumously at the end of the conflict.

'''Siduri War Service Crosses'''

[[Category:Cacerta]]
[[Category:Military of Cacerta]]
[[Category:Cacertian Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships of Cacerta]]
[[Category:Warships of Cacerta]]