On this day in aviation history, the Fiat BR.20 Cicogna (Stork) made its first flight. This aircraft was among the most advanced Italian bombers of the 1930s, but like many aircraft developed around the world at this time, rapid developments in aeronautical technology ensured that by the time WWII broke out, it was an outdated model. Due to a lack of alternative designs, however, it was forced to stay in service. Yet there is more to the Cicogna’s story than obsolescence, as the aircraft was flown in combat from Spain to China, and some would solider on to the very end of WWII.
In the mid-1930s, Fascist Italy’s aviation leaders began to recognize that, despite its smaller industrial base, it would have to modernize its aging air force to keep up with its neighbors in Europe and to fulfill Benito Mussolini’s goals for territorial expansion. In 1934, the Regia Aeronautica set out specifications for a new medium bomber that was to fly up 330 kph (210 mph) at 4,500 meters (14,800 feet) and 385 kph (239 mph) at 5,000 m (16,000 ft), have a range of 1,000 km (620 mi) and a 1,200 kg (2,600 lb.) bombload.
The man responsible for designing Fiat Aviation’s entry was Celestine Rosatelli, the designer of several of Italy’s premier biplane fighters, such as the Fiat CR.32 that was serving as a mainstay of the Regia Aeronautica. The resulting bomber design was an aircraft that was both modern and traditional. The fuselage was made from a welded steel tube framework, with duralumin skin placed on the forward and center sections, while the rear section, along with its twin tail design, was covered with fabric. The wing was built in three sections (a center section that was integral with the fuselage and extended to the engine nacelles, and two outer sections), and were all-metal except for the fabric-covered control surfaces such as the ailerons. The aircraft also featured main landing gear legs that hydraulically retracted into the engine nacelles, though the tailwheel was fixed in place.
The BR.20 was different from other Italian bombers of the period in that the bombs it carried were racked horizontally rather than vertically, which improved accuracy. Vertically stacked bombs were a feature of aircraft such as the Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Sparrowhawk), which had originally been designed as a passenger transport and was modified into a bomber. The BR.20 was further differentiated by having two engines rather than three, which allowed the bomber to have the bombardier stationed at the front of the nose, where the trimotors had their third engine. The Cicogna had a crew of between four or five depending on mission parameters (pilot, copilot, bombardier/navigator, radio operator/gunner, and another gunner).
On February 10, 1936, the first prototype, MM.274, made its maiden flight with test pilot Enrico Rolandi at the controls. By September of that year, the Fiat BR.20 (BR standing for Bombardiere Rosatelli) was introduced into operational service with its adoption into the 13° Stormo Bombardamento Terrestre (13th Land Bombardment Wing), in Lonate Pozzolo, Lombardy. At the time the BR.20 was introduced, it was one of the most capable bombers in the world in terms of speed and payload capacity.
As such, it became a focal point for Mussolini’s propaganda machine, touting the technological advancements of Fascist Italy. On August 20, 1937, two civilianized examples called BR.20As were developed to compete in the Istres-Damascus-Paris air race, meant to parallel the distance flown by Charles Lindbergh on his flight from New York to Paris ten years prior. The two BR.20As were given the racing numbers I-8 and I-10 but faced stiff competition with no less than six SM.79s. With the SM.79 being a faster design, combined with engine trouble experienced by the two BR.20s, one of the Sparvieros won first place, while BR.20A I-8 and I-10 finished in sixth and seventh place respectively on the leg from Istres to Damascus.
Around the same, the Fiat BR.20 Cicogna made its combat debut during the Spanish Civil War. Much was made of the air support Nazi Germany gave to Francisco Franco’s Nationalist Army through the Luftwaffe’s Condor Legion, but the Regia Aeronautica rivaled the Condor Legion with the Aviazione Legionaria (the Legionary Air Force), and in June 1937, the Aviazione Legionaria received six BR.20 bombers to Tablada, Seville. When they began combat sorties in September, they were often too fast and flew too high for Soviet-built fighters of the Spanish Republican Air Force to successfully intercept them, and their speed and altitude advantage combined with longitudinal stability made the BR.20 ideal for high-altitude photo reconnaissance of Republican forces during the Battle of the Ebro in 1938. By July 1938, seven more BR.20s were sent to Spain, and when Francisco Franco’s forces took Madrid and ended the war on April 1, 1939, nine of the thirteen BR.20s had survived. These were handed by their Italian crews to the Spanish Air Force, where they remained in use as Spain maintained its neutrality during WWII.
The Italian Stork would also spread its wings over China as part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS). When the Japanese started the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the IJAAS’ primary bomber was the Mitsubishi Ki-1, which proved to be obsolete and too short ranged for Japan’s expansionist war needs. While the Mitsubishi Ki-21 bomber was under development, the Japanese decided to select an interim foreign design until the Ki-21 could be introduced, and they chose the BR.20. Japan would receive a total of 82 Cicognas shipped from Italy and were designated as the Army Type I heavy bomber (‘I’ for Italy). They were flown primarily by the 12th Sentai and 98th Sentai from Japanese bases in Manchukuo (Japanese-controlled Manchuria) against Chinese cities and supply bases beyond the range of escort fighters. However, flying beyond escort range led to heavy casualties among the Japanese airmen, and the light defensive armament was not adequate for such missions. As the Mitsubishi Ki-21s entered service and the supply of Italian parts and bombs dwindled, the Type Is were phased out of operational service by September 1939. Yet, in the 1940s, covering the risk of unlikely encounters, the Allied air intelligence gave it the reporting name “Ruth”.
Another publicity coup for the Fiat BR.20 was the flight of the Santo Francesco, which was the one and only BR.20L. This was a long-range civil version. From March 6-7, 1939, a three-man crew of aviators Maner Lualdi, Giuseppe Mazzotti, and Ettore Valenti flew the Santo Francesco nonstop from Rome to Addis Ababa, the capital of Italian-occupied Ethiopia, in 11 hours, 25 minutes at an average speed of 250 mph. The flight also served as another propaganda opportunity for Italy, as copies of the fascist newspaper Il Popolo d’Italia (“The People of Italy”) were carried to Addis-Ababa aboard the Santo Francesco.
When Germany plunged Europe into war on September 1, 1939, with its invasion of Poland, Italy was ill-prepared for war, and Mussolini knew it. Yet by June 1940, with France about to surrender, leading alone Britain to face Germany, Mussolini wanted to avoid missing out on the anticipated Nazi victory, and so declared war on June 10, 1940 invading France. By this point, the Fiat BR.20 Cicogna had been outpaced by the development of new, faster, and more heavily armed fighters, and was superseded not only by foreign bombers that could fly faster, higher, and carry heavier payloads, but its pair of Fiat A.80 R.C.41 18-cylinder air-cooled radial engines were unreliable. What’s more, the SM.79 Sparviero proved a more agile bomber, and saw greater use as both a level bomber and as a torpedo bomber against Allied convoys in the Mediterranean. By this point, however, an upgraded version of the Cicogna was introduced, the BR.20M. They would be used briefly during the Invasion of France, losing five aircraft to French fighters and anti-aircraft fire.
On September 10, 1940, the Regia Aeronautica formed the Corpo Aereo Italiano (CAI; Italian Air Corps) to partner with the German Luftwaffe in directly attacking Britain. The BR.20 was the primary bomber in the campaign against Britain, being escorted by Fiat CR.42 Falco (Falcon) biplane fighters and Fiat G.50 Freccia (Arrow) monoplane fighters. Operating from bases in occupied Belgium, the BR.20s attacked targets in Harwich, Felixstowe, Ipswich, and Parkeston from October 1940 to January 1941, though after launching a daylight raid against Harwich on November 11, 1940, where the CAI lost three out of ten BR.20s sent out, all remaining bombing raids were carried out at night. By January 10, 1941, the BR.20s were recalled to Italy, and the fighters followed three months later in April. While they certainly created some damage, the Corpo Aereo Italiano ultimately achieved limited success.
The BR.20 was also used to attack the British garrison in Malta, a key strategic location for resupplying Allied forces in North Africa and from which to attack Axis convoys supporting German and Italian troops in North Africa. While the British and Maltese defenses were initially weakened by the bombing raids, new supplies and equipment, especially in the deployment of current variants of the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire led to increasing casualties, not only among the Cicognas but with other Italian and German bombers as well, and by 1943, the bombing campaign would come to an end.
In North Africa, the Fiat BR.20s were brought in to replace the old Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 Pipistrello trimotors, and were used to bomb the British Commonwealth forces at Tobruk, but Italian industry still struggling to resupply their own aircraft, the Germans took a more action role with their own aircraft, or in supplying the Italians with Junkers Ju 87 Stukas and Ju 88s, which would see the Cicognas be pulled back from both frontline action, though 55° Gruppo (55th Group) would see combat.
Other theaters of operation were the Fiat BR.20 could be found in the skies included the Balkans, where they were flown in Greece during the Italian invasion in 1940 and in Yugoslavia from 1941 onwards, and some examples were also flown by the Royal Hungarian Air Force and the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia primarily bomber trainers, while the Regia Aeronautica used theirs in bombing missions against Jozef Broz Tito’s band of partisans. On the Eastern Front, the BR.20 Cicgona was deployed on long-range bombing and reconnaissance missions from August 1942 to April 1943.
By the time of the Italian surrender in September 1943, just 67 Fiat BR.20 Cicognas remained in service, and had been used primarily for maritime patrols or for training. For the rest of WWII, the surviving Cicognas were flown as transports and trainers, with the very last example being retired from the Italian Air Force on June 7, 1946.
Although no examples have survived to be preserved in museums, there are at least two documented underwater wrecks of Fiat BR.20s. One rests off the seaside commune of Santo Stefano al Mare, Province of Imperia. Records show that this aircraft was BR.20 MM.21503, which was severely damaged on a raid against the French city of Hyères on June 13, 1940. Though badly wounded, pilot Simone Catalano tried to return to Italy but was forced to ditch two miles off the coast from Santo Stefano. Of the five-man crew onboard, (pilot Simone Catalano, second co-pilot Ottavio Aliani, radio operator Salvatore Gaeta, gunner Tommaso Ferrari, and flight engineer Farris), only Farris and Aliani survived, with the rest going down with their aircraft. The war grave wreck, lying at a depth of 48 meters, has been visited and documented by scuba divers.
A second BR.20 wreck lies off the Sicilian coast near the seaside town of San Leone, Agrigento. Ordnance divers from the COMSUBIN (Comando Raggruppamento Subacquei e Incursori “Teseo Tesei” (Divers and Raiders Group Command “Teseo Tesei”), the Italian Navy’s special operations unit have since gone to the wreck and disposed of the payload of bombs still in the aircraft, while some items retrieved from the Cicogna bomber have been recovered and placed on display at the Museo Storico dello Sbarco in Sicilia 1943 (Museum of the Landing in Sicily 1943) in Catania, Sicily.
While the Fiat BR.20 Cicogna was superseded by rapid advances in aviation technology in the small window between the mid 1930s and the start of WWII, it was an aircraft that performed well for its day, establishing several milestones in the field of aviation before the war.
Today in Aviation History is a series highlighting the achievements, innovations, and milestones that have shaped the skies. All the previous anniversaries are available HERE
