The ''Sella''-class destroyers were a group of four
destroyers built for the (Royal Italian Navy) in the 1920s. Two of these ships fought 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 opposing ...
and both were sunk after the
Italian capitulation to the
Allies. The two other ships were sold to the
Swedish Navy in 1940 and were scrapped in the late 1940s.
These ships formed the basis for most subsequent destroyers built by the Italians, but were disappointing in service with unreliable machinery.
Design and description
The ''Sella''-class destroyers were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding and .
[ 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 i ...
of , a beam of and a draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of . They displaced at standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
load, and at deep load
The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
. Their complement was 8–9 officers and 144 enlisted men.[
The ''Sella''s were powered by two ]Parsons
Parsons may refer to:
Places
In the United States:
* Parsons, Kansas, a city
* Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Parsons, Tennessee, a city
* Parsons, West Virginia, a town
* Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...
geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by three Yarrow boiler
Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by
Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships.
The Yarrow boiler design is characteristic ...
s. The turbines were rated at for a speed of in service,[Roberts, p. 298] although the ships reached speeds in excess 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.[McMurtrie, p. 281] They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at a speed of .[Whitley, p. 159]
Their main battery
A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...
consisted of three guns in one 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 ...
aft of the superstructure and one single-gun turret forward of it.[Fraccaroli, p. 43] Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the ''Sella''-class ships was provided by a pair of AA gun
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, ...
s in single mounts 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 ...
and a pair of machine guns. They were equipped with four 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 twin mounts amidships.[ The ''Sella''s could also carry 32 mines.][
]
Ships
Service history
During the war, the destroyers were based at the island of Leros
Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flig ...
, in the Dodecanese. They took part in the Italian retaking of Kastelorizo (named Operation Abstention
Operation Abstention was a code name given to a British invasion of the Italian island of Kastelorizo (Castellorizo) off the Turkish Aegean coast, during the Second World War, in late February 1941. The goal was to establish a motor torpedo-boa ...
by the British) on 27 February 1941, and were used as mother ship
A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft.
Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental airc ...
s for the successful attack by explosive motor boats on on 25 March. ''Crispi'' led the landing of an Italian division on Sitia
Sitia ( el, Σητεία) is a port town and a municipality in Lasithi, Crete, Greece. The town has 9,912 inhabitants (2011) and the municipality has 18,318 (2011). It lies east of Agios Nikolaos and northeast of Ierapetra. Sitia port is on the ...
, Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
, on 28 May 1941, in the course of the battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...
.
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
Tragedy destroyer Quintino Sella 11 września 1943 r. (PL)
Quintino Sella
Marina Militare website
{{Authority control
Destroyer classes
Ships built in Italy