Soldato-class destroyer
Ascaro before launch
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Class overview | |
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Builders | Ansaldo, Genoa |
Operators | Regia Marina |
Preceded by | Nembo class |
Succeeded by | Indomito class |
Built | 1905–1913 |
In commission | 1907–1932 |
Completed | 11 |
Lost | 1 |
Scrapped | 10 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Displacement | 395–424 long tons (401–431 t) |
Length | |
Beam | 6.1 m (20 ft 0 in) |
Draught | 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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The Soldato class (also known as the Soldati class
Design
The Soldato class was ordered from Ansaldo as an improved version of the Nembo-class destroyer, a class of six turtleback destroyers built for the Italian Navy by the Pattison shipyard of Naples to a modified Thornycroft design between 1899 and 1905.[1][4][5] The new design carried a more powerful armament than the earlier ships, with four 76 mm (3 in)/40 calibre guns (capable of firing a 5.9 kg (13 lb) shell to a range of 9,850 m (32,320 ft) at a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute per gun[6]) and three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes instead of the five 57 mm guns and four 356 mm (14 in) tubes carried by the Nembo class.[1][4]
The ships were powered by two sets of triple expansion steam engines fed by three Thornycroft water-tube boilers and driving two propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) to give a speed of 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph). The ships were fitted with three funnels.[1] Six ships (the Artigliere group[2]) had coal-fired boilers, carrying 95 t of coal, sufficient to give a range of 1,500 nautical miles (1,700 mi; 2,800 km) at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) or 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) at 23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph).[1][7] Four more ships (the Alpino group[2]) were fitted with oil-fired boilers, with 65 t of oil giving a range of 1,600 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 12 knots.[1][8]
All 10 ships were laid down in 1905, with the first four ships of the Artigliere group completed in 1907, with the remaining ships delivered in 1910.[2] In 1910, China placed an order for a single destroyer based on the Soldato class, to be named Ching Po or Tsing Po. This ship was to have a gun armament of two 76 mm and four 47 mm guns, and was designed to use mixed fuel, with one boiler being coal-fired and two being oil-fired. In 1912, the under-construction ship was acquired by Italy, and renamed Ascaro. The ship's armament was revised to conform with the rest of the class, but the ship retained its non-standard machinery.[1]
Service
The Soldato class were the most modern destroyers in the Regia Marina when the Italo-Turkish War broke out. Soldato-class destroyers took place in both the Battle of Preveza, where Italian destroyers, including Artigliere and Corazziere sank three Turkish torpedo boats.[9][10] and the Battle of Kunfuda Bay, where the protected cruiser Piemonte, together with Artigliere and Garibaldino sank seven gunboats.[11][12]
One ship, Garibaldino, was lost following a collision on 16 July 1918.[13] The remaining ships were reclassified as torpedo boats on 1 July 1921 and were gradually discarded through the 1920s and early 1930s, with the final ship, Fuciliere stricken on 15 December 1932.[1]
Ships
- Artigliere group
Ship | Laid down[2] | Launched[2] | Completed[2] | Operational History |
---|---|---|---|---|
Artigliere | 24 July 1905 | 18 January 1907 | 26 August 1907 | Stricken 14 June 1923[1] |
Bersagliere | 13 July 1905 | 2 October 1906 | 13 April 1907 | Stricken 5 July 1923[1] |
Corazziere | 23 October 1905 | 11 December 1909 | 16 May 1910 | Sticken 1 June 1928[1] |
Garibaldino | 23 October 1905 | 12 February 1910 | 1 June 1910 | Sank following collision with trawler Cygnet[b] off Villefranche-sur-Mer 16 July 1918.[13][17] |
Granatiere | 24 July 1905 | 27 October 1906 | 18 April 1907 | Stricken 3 November 1927[1] |
Lanciere | 24 July 1905 | 27 February 1907 | 1 August 1907 | Stricken 4 March 1923[1] |
- Alpino group
Ship | Laid down[13] | Launched[13] | Completed[13] | Operational History |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alpino | 4 December 1905 | 27 November 1909 | 1 April 1910 | Stricken 1 June 1928[1] |
Carabiniere | 7 November 1905 | 12 October 1909 | 26 January 1910 | Stricken 7 May 1925[13] |
Fuciliere | 28 October 1905 | 21 August 1909 | 26 January 1910 | Stricken 15 December 1932[1] |
Pontiere | 18 November 1905 | 3 January 1910 | 11 February 1910 | Ran aground off Sardinia 14 September 1911, salvaged and repaired at Taranto and relaunched 1 November 1913. Stricken 1 July 1929.[1][13] |
- Ascaro
Ship | Laid down[18] | Launched[18] | Completed[18] | Operational History |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ascaro | 1911 | 6 December 1912 | 21 July 1913 | Stricken 31 May 1930[1] |
Notes
- ^ Fraccaroli[2] and the current Italian Navy[3] refer to the class as the Soldato class, while Gardiner and Gray refer to the class as the Soldati class.[1]
- ^ Fraccaroli states that the collision was with the British destroyer HMS Cygnet[1] HMS Cygnet was based in British waters during the First World War, however,[14][15][16] and so is unlikely to be the ship involved.
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Fraccaroli 1985, p. 268.
- ^ a b c d e f g Fraccaroli 1970, pp. 66–67.
- ^ "Almanacco storico navale: Bersagliere: Cacciatorpediniere". Marina Militare. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ a b Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 356.
- ^ Fraccaroli 1970, p. 65.
- ^ Fraccaroli 1970, pp. 281–282.
- ^ "Almanacco storico navale: Artigliere: Cacciatorpediniere". Marina Militare. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ "Almanacco storico navale: Alpino: Cacciatorpediniere". Marina Militare. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ Hythe 1912, pp. 160–161.
- ^ Beehler 1913, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Beehler 1913, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Hythe 1912, pp. 166–167.
- ^ a b c d e f g Fraccaroli 1970, p. 67.
- ^ Dittmar and Colledge 1972, p. 58.
- ^ Thompson, Doug (26 July 1999). "A "Best Guess" of Royal Navy Destroyers Assigned to Home Defence and Patrols in August, 1914". The World War I Document Archive: The War at Sea. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ Maccormick, Bill (21 January 1999). "Royal Navy Destroyer Deployment, 1914-1918". The World War I Document Archive: The War at Sea. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ "Major Warships Sunk in World War 1 1918". worldwar1.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
- ^ a b c Fraccaroli 1970, p. 68.
References
- Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War, Sept. 29, 1911 to Oct. 18, 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Advertiser-Republican.
- Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
- Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7.
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War 1. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0105-7.
- Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
- Hythe, Viscount (1912). The Naval Annual 1912. Portsmouth, UK: J Griffin.
External links
- Soldato-class destroyer Marina Militare website