''Giovanni da Verazzano'' was one of a dozen s built for the (Royal Italian Navy) in the late 1920s. Completed in 1930, she served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Design and description

The Navigatori-class destroyers were designed to counter the large French destroyers of the and es.Ando, p. 15 They had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads in ...

of , a beam of and a mean draft of .Whitley, p. 162 They displaced at standard load, and at deep load. Their complement during wartime was 222–225 officers and enlisted men. The ''Navigatori''s were powered by two Belluzzo geared

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

s, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by four Yarrow boilers. The turbines were designed to produce and a speed of in service, although the ships reached speeds of during their

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s while lightly loaded.Roberts, p. 299 They carried enough

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

to give them a range of at a speed of .Ando, p. 16 Their main battery consisted of six guns in three twin-

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

s, one each fore and aft of the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

and the third

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...

.Fraccaroli, p. 49 Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the Navigatori-class ships was provided by a pair of AA guns in single mounts abreast the forward funnel and a pair of twin-gun mounts for machine guns. They were equipped with six

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in two triple mounts amidships. The Navigatoris could carry 86–104 mines.

Construction and career

''Giovanni da Verazzano'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

by Cantieri navali del Quarnaro at their

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 ...

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

on 17 August 1927, launched on 15 December 1928 and commissioned on 25 September 1930.

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Giovanni da Verrazzano
Marina Militare website {{DEFAULTSORT:Giovanni Da Verazzano Navigatori-class destroyers Ships built in Fiume 1928 ships World War II destroyers of Italy Maritime incidents in October 1942