The ''Ariete''-class torpedo boats were a group of destroyer escorts built for the

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

during World War II. They were enlarged versions of the s and designed to escort convoys to North Africa. Of the 42 units planned, sixteen ships were eventually ordered but only one was completed by the time of the armistice, ''Ariete'', built in the Sestri Ponente shipyards and commissioned on 5 August 1943. The namesake ship was also the only one to survive the war. After the war it was ceded to the

Yugoslav Navy The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the miss ...

(1949), and renamed ''Durmitor''. Most of the other ships were captured and completed by the Germans, entered service with the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' as

Torpedoboot Ausland The ''Torpedoboot Ausland'' ("foreign torpedo boats") were small destroyers or large torpedo boats captured by Nazi Germany and incorporated into the Kriegsmarine. They were assigned a number beginning with TA. Ex-French ships *Former French s, ...

and eventually sunk in the course of operations across the Aegean and the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

. ''Fionda'' (renamed ''TA46'' by the Germans) was sunk in

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

by an

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

bomber on 20 February 1945, together with her twin ''Balestra'' / ''TA47''. Both ships at the time were unfinished. Recovered by the Yugoslavians in 1947, it was used to complete ''TA47'', which entered service in the Yugoslavian Navy as ''Učka''. It was decommissioned in 1971.

Design

Compared to the ''Spica'' class it was developed from, the ''Ariete'' class had lost one of the three /47 caliber dual-purpose guns, whereas torpedo armament had grown from four to six torpedo tubes, in two triple mountings on the ship's centreline. The

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

suite included ten 20 mm cannons.

Ships

References

Notes

* Cantieri Navali del Quarnaro,

* Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Trieste

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Classe Ariete
Marina Militare website {{Ariete-class torpedo boats Torpedo boat classes World War II torpedo boats of Italy Ships built in Italy Torpedo boats of the Regia Marina