I am unsure if the Italians's would lose such a race. They were well known as the faster ships and I see no reason why the damaged vice admiral ship has to be the lead when they can buffer his vessel with some of the older slower vessels. Ultimately I still believe he could go under but I am unsure the engagement would be lost this way
Very fair criticisms.
As to why Amedeo chose to lead from the front instead of protecting himself properly... that's a damn good question which many Italians are asking ITTL! The next update will, amongst other things, attempt to answer this question.
I tend to agree, but we're also seeing the battle from a narrow perspective. The next chapter should be revealing.
That being said, I don't think Amedeo would saddle himself with an ancient 1880s torpedo cruiser that's only going to slow him down.
He wanted to bring along
literally as much firepower as possible-- despite the cost. Ill-advised.
That's fair bit also. I would hope the man had some sense because of he isn't then he is just exposing himself in one of the fleets most valuable ships and seeming damaged allowing it down all go what?
He certainly was exposing himself, and he certainly should have known better!
"Everybody hath a plan until they get punched in the mouth."
Indeed!
So is this loss that is going to make the italians work together with the austrians, so they can be the ones exploding while the italians take shots at the french.
That would be the logical course of action to take, yeah. Many in the Italian Navy are now wondering if defeat could have been avoided had the Austro-Hungarians participated.
Also this will greatly hurt the pride of italians, considering they proudly scream to be the union of the 4 maritime republics.
Genoese, Venetian, Pisan and Amalfitan citizen might be really ashamed to be part of Italy now. Considering also how both the Genoese and Venetian did not want to be part of Italy, and the South has been treated badly i can even see some open revolts, should Italy not perform better in the war.
Italian pride just took a beating, agreed. The Austrians are gloating from safety, while the Entente's job just got a whole lot easier. That said, France took heavy losses as well, something I'll touch on in the next update.
We're a long way from a breakup of Italy but such a thing might happen in the future.
Speaking of revolts Mussolini and some other Socialists/ Communists back in the day thought the war might bring the ideal climate for the revolution of the workers across Europe (wich for Italy is mainly the North of the country) so how are things on that front ones the war starts and shortages might arise with limited trade, or even blockade of Italians from their colonies and other trade partner nations.
Stay tuned-- I have an idea I'm playing with for this!
(Mussolini will still be a participant in TTL!)
Thanks for the comments guys. You've shown what vagarities I left in the previous chapter, which is helpful for me when planning the next! Hopefully chapter 14 will answer all your questions.