Comandanti Medaglie d'Oro-class destroyer
 Builder's model of the first-series ships
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Comandanti Medaglie d'Oro class |
| Operators |  Regia Marina |
| Preceded by | Soldati class |
| Succeeded by | Impetuoso class |
| Built | 1942–1943 |
| Planned | 20 |
| Completed | 0 |
| Cancelled | 4 |
| Scrapped | 16 |
| General characteristics (1st series) | |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 120.7 m (396 ft) ( o/a ) |
| Beam | 12.3 m (40 ft 4 in) |
| Draught | 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 3,300 nmi (6,100 km; 3,800 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 15 officers and 262 enlisted men |
| Sensors and processing systems | search radar |
| Armament |
|
The Comandanti Medaglie d'Oro class were a group of 20
Design and description
By mid-1941, the Ministero della Marina (Navy Ministry) had concluded that its existing destroyer building program was insufficient to replace its losses and authorized a new design that would incorporate the war experience gained thus far. The anti-aircraft armament of the preceding
The Comandanti Medaglie d'Oro-class ships had a
The Comandanti Medaglie d'Oros were powered by two
The propulsion machinery for the fourth ship of the third series, Comandante Esposito, was going to be rearranged to improve the survivability of the Comandanti Medaglie d'Oro class as the existing layout meant that a single hit could disable all of the boilers and immobilize the ship. At the cost of some additional length, the Italians intended to adopt the unit system of machinery in which each turbine was paired with two boilers, each in their own compartment and using their own funnel, so that one "unit" of machinery could still work if the other was knocked out.[5]
Armament and sensors
Their main battery would have consisted of 45-caliber Cannone da 135/45 OTO Mod. 1937 guns, the number of which and distribution varied between the ships. The first series of eight ships would have had four single shielded mounts, one superfiring pair fore and aft of the superstructure. The second and third series would have had an extra single mount at the aft end of the superstructure.[6] The guns fired 32.7-kilogram (72 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity of 825 meters per second (2,710 ft/s) to a range of 19,600 meters (21,400 yd) at their maximum elevation of 45 degrees.[7]
The secondary armament of the first series of the Comandanti Medaglie d'Oro-class ships was provided by a dozen single mounts for 54-caliber
The ships would have been equipped with six 533-millimeter (21 in)
The first-series ships would have been fitted with a single RM-2 gunnery
Ships
The ships were named after
| Name | Builder[2] | Laid down[12]
|
Launched[12] | Percentage complete as of 15 August 1943[12] | Fate[12] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First series | |||||
| Comandante Toscano | Cantiere navale di Riva Trigoso | 14 December 1942 | Never | 17 | Badly damaged by bombs, subsequently scrapped by the Germans |
| Comandante De Cristofaro | 6 March 1943 | 15.5 | |||
| Comandante Dell'Anno | 14 February 1943 | 19 | Scrapped by the Germans, 1944 | ||
| Comandante Casana | 18 | ||||
| Comandante Baroni | Odero-Terni-Orlando, Livorno | 14 December 1942 | 19.5 | Scrapped by the Germans sometime after the Armistice | |
| Comandante Margottini | 10 March 1943 | Early 1944 | 20 | Sunk by aircraft, 23 September 1944 | |
| Comandante Borsini | 29 April 1943 | Never | 17.5 | Scrapped by the Germans | |
| Comandante Fontana | Late 1943 | 9 | Scrapped | ||
| Second series | |||||
| Comandante Giorgis | Cantiere navale di Riva Trigoso | Planned for September 1943 | Never | 3 | Broken up |
| Comandante Giobbe | Planned for October 1943 | ||||
| Comandante Moccagatta | Odero-Terni-Orlando, Livorno | Planned for November 1943 | |||
| Comandante Rodocancchi | Planned for December 1943 | ||||
| Comandante Botti | Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Trieste | 1 August 1943 | 4 | Scrapped by the Germans | |
| Comandante Ruta | 16 August 1943 | ||||
| Comandante Novaro | Never | 3 | Broken up | ||
| Comandante Fiorelli | |||||
| Third series | |||||
| Comandante Corsi | Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Trieste | Cancelled | |||
| Comandante Giannattasio | |||||
| Comandante Milano | |||||
| Comandante Esposito | |||||
Notes
- ^ Bagnasco & Grossman, p. 262
- ^ a b Whitley, p. 172
- ^ a b c d Bagnasco & Grossman, p. 276
- ^ Roberts, p. 301
- ^ Bagnasco & Grossman, p. 263
- ^ a b c d Bagnasco & Grossman, pp. 262–263, 276
- ^ Campbell, p. 333
- ^ Campbell, p. 345
- ^ Campbell, p. 349
- ^ Fraccaroli, p. 63
- ^ Bagnasco & Grossman, pp. 272, 274; Brescia, p. 134
- ^ a b c d Bagnasco & Grossman, p. 274
Bibliography
- Bagnasco, Erminio & Grossman, Mark (1990). "The Comandanti Class Destroyers of the Italian Navy 1942–1943". Warship International. XXVII (3): 258–276. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Bagnasco, Erminio; Grossman, Mark (1990). "Addendum to The Comandanti Class Destroyers of the Italian Navy 1942–1943". Warship International. XXVII (4): 360. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Brescia, Maurizio (2012). Mussolini's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regina Marina 1930–45. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-544-8.
- Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1968). Italian Warships of World War II. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0002-6.
- Roberts, John (1980). "Italy". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 280–317. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
- ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
External links
- Classe Comandanti Medaglie d'Oro Marina Militare website
