The ''Orsa'' class (sometimes called the ''Pegaso'' class) were a group of large

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...

s or

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

s 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 ...

in the late 1930s. They were an enlarged version of the , specifically tailored for the escort and anti-submarine role, with greater endurance and a heavier depth charge armament but less powerful machinery and a lighter gun armament. Four were built, with two being lost during the Second World War. The surviving pair were rebuilt as anti-submarine frigates in the 1950s.

Ships

References

External links

Orsa-class torpedo
Marina Militare website {{WWII Italian ships Torpedo boat classes Ships built in Italy Torpedo boats of the Regia Marina World War II torpedo boats of Italy