Italian destroyer Nembo (1901)

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For other ships with the same name, see Italian destroyer Nembo.
Nembo in her original configuration with two funnels, sometime between 1902 and 1909.
History
Kingdom of Italy
NameNembo
NamesakeNimbus, a now-outdated term for a nimbostratus cloud
BuilderCantiere Pattison, Naples, Kingdom of Italy
Laid down6 August 1899
Launched18 May 1901
Completed26 June 1902
CommissionedJune 1902
FateSunk 17 October 1916
General characteristics
TypeDestroyer
Displacement
  • 325 long tons (330 t) normal
  • 380 long tons (390 t) full load
Length
  • 63.39 m (208 ft 0 in) pp
  • 64.00 m (210 ft 0 in) oa
Beam5.94 m (19 ft 6 in)
Draught2.29 m (7 ft 6 in)
Propulsion
Speed30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement55
Armament

Nembo ("Nimbus") was the lead ship of the Italian Nembo-class destroyers. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") in 1902, she served in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I. She was sunk during the latter conflict in October 1916.

Construction, commissioning, and modernization

laid down at the Cantiere Pattison (English: Pattison Shipyard) in Naples, Italy, on 6 August 1899. She was launched on 18 May 1901 and completed on 26 June 1902.[1] She was commissioned in June 1902. Nembo, like her sister ship, Turbine, had her armament modified in 1905, each having her Cannon 76/40 (3 in) Model 1916 gun removed and two additional 356-millimetre (14 in) torpedo tubes installed, giving them the same armament as that of the following three Nembo-class ships.[2]

At various times between 1909 and 1912, each of the Nembo-class destroyers underwent a radical modernization; Nembo′s took place in 1909. Her

lay 10 to 16 mines.[2][4]

Service history

Italo-Turkish War

The

Lipsos in the Dodecanese in the Aegean Sea.[7]

At 04:00 on 14 July 1912, Nembo got underway from

Stampalia in the Dodecanese with Borea and Vettor Pisani to provide support to the torpedo boats Astore, Centauro, Climene, Perseo, and Spica as they conducted a reconnaissance of the Dardanelles. The ships first steamed to the Italian-occupied island of Leros in the southern Aegean Sea, where the torpedo boats were prepared for the incursion. They then proceeded to Strati (also known as Bozaba), where they arrived on 17 July 1912 and the officer who would command the torpedo boats during the operation joined the force. Delayed by bad weather, the force left Strati on the afternoon of 18 July bound for the Dardanelles. While Nembo, Vettor Pisani, and Borea remained off the coast out of sight of land, the torpedo boats penetrated the Dardanelles, noting the location of Ottoman ships and the defenses of the strait. Suffering only slight damage and no casualties, the torpedo boats returned to Vettor Pisani during the predawn hours of 19 July 1912.[6][8]
The war ended on 18 October 1912 in an Italian victory.

World War I

1915–1916

World War I broke out in 1914, and the Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies with its declaration of war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915. At the time, Nembo, under the command of Capitano di fregata (Frigate Captain) Sorrentino, as well as Aquilone, Borea, Turbine, and their sister ship Espero made up the 5th Destroyer Squadron, based at Taranto.[9]

On 23 June 1916 Nembo and the

auxiliary cruiser Città di Messina and the French destroyer Fourche, torpedoed and sunk by the Austro-Hungarian Navy submarine U-15 while on a reconnaissance cruise in the Strait of Otranto. Rescuers saved 302 of the 335 men who had been aboard Città di Messina and 66 of the 85 men who had been aboard Fourche.[10]

In October 1916 Nembo, Borea, the destroyers

pack artillery battery and a second cavalry squadron, and on 4 October the operation was completed when Bulgaria and Choising put another infantry battalion and a third cavalry squadron ashore.[11]

Loss

On 16 October 1916 Nembo, under the command of Capitano di corvetta (Corvette Captain) Russo, left Vlorë to escort the steamer Bormida, which was bound for Sarandë with troops on board.[11] On 17 October, between Vlorë and Sazan (known to the Italians as Saseno) the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-16 attacked the convoy, hitting Nembo with two torpedoes. Nembo broke in two and sank quickly at 40°08′N 019°30′E / 40.133°N 19.500°E / 40.133; 19.500 (Nembo).[11][12] U-16 also sank during the clash, although how and why she sank is unclear: According to some sources Nembo rammed U-16 before sinking,[11][13] while other sources claim that Nembo′s depth charges sank U-16 when they exploded after falling overboard while Nembo sank.[14] Still other sources claim that U-16 sank after colliding with Bormida.

Of Nembo′s 55-man crew, 32 died in the sinking, including Russo, the executive officer, the chief engineer, and another engineering officer.[11] Twenty-three men survived,[11] either rescued by Italian ships or swimming to the Albanian coast. Among U-16′s crew, two men died and 14 survived.[12] Of the Italians who survived by swimming to shore, four refused rescue by a lifeboat manned by U-16′s survivors so as to avoid being taken prisoner. After reaching the coast, they contributed to the capture of the Austro-Hungarians in the lifeboat, who were taken prisoner by Italian ships.[15][16][17]

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Nembo Class Destroyer (1912)". dreadnoughtproject.org. The Dreadnought Project. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Nembo destroyers (1902 - 1905) - Regia Marina (Italy).
  3. ^ "Italian Nembo - Warships 1900–1950" (in Czech and English). Warships of World War II. Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  4. ^ a b Marina Militare: Nembo.
  5. ^ Beehler 1913, p. 10.
  6. ^ a b c "Il Dodecaneso italiano" (PDF) (in Italian). November 2017. InternetArchiveBot.
  7. ^ La Guerra Italo Turca - Betasom - XI Gruppo Sommergibili Atlantici (in Italian).
  8. ^ Beehler 1913, pp. 87, 89.
  9. ^ Favre, pp. 68–69, 97, 100–102..
  10. ^ FOURCHE - Contre-torpilleur - marine - Forum Pages d'Histoire: marine - FORUM pages 14-18 Archived 17 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Favre, pp. 97, 155–156..
  12. ^ a b SS "Bishopston" - Great War Forum Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ^ Destroyer Nembo - Ships hit by U-boats - German and Austrian U-boats of World War One - Kaiserliche Marine - uboat.net.
  14. ^ Giorgio Giorgerini, Uomini sul fondo. Storia del sommergibilismo italiano dalle origini ad oggi, p. 55 (in Italian).
  15. ^ Carlo Alberto Di Grazia (15 May – 15 June 1965). "Il coraggio di guardare in faccia la morte". Viareggio Ieri (in Italian). Vol. 2, no. 5.
  16. ISBN 9780405130359
    .
  17. ^ Powered by Google Documenti.

Bibliography

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