The Soldati class (also known as ''Camicia Nera'' class, meaning
Blackshirt
The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Nation ...
) were a group of
destroyers built for the (Royal Italian Navy) during World War II. The ships were named after military professions (''Artigliere'', for example, meaning "artilleryman"). There were two batches; twelve ships were built in 1938–1939, and a second batch of seven ships were ordered in 1940, although only five were completed.
Ten ships of the class were lost during the war. Three of the survivors were transferred to the
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
and two to the
Soviet Navy as
war reparations
War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war.
History
Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history.
...
, while two served in the Italian post-war navy, the
''Marina Militare''.
Design
In 1936, the Italian
Regia Marina
The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...
placed an order for twelve examples of a new destroyer design, the Soldati class. The design was essentially a repeat of the previous
''Oriani'' destroyer design, which was itself a development of the . The design featured an identical main gun armament of four
120 mm/50
calibre
In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...
guns in two twin
turrets, one forward and one aft, while
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
armament was two triple
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. A
short (15 calibre) 120 mm gun[Campbell 1985, pp. 335–338] was mounted on a pedestal between the banks of torpedo tubes for firing
starshell, while the
anti-aircraft armament consisted of twelve
machine guns. A single ship (''Carabiniere'') was completed with a fifth
120 mm 50 calibre gun replacing the starshell gun.
[ The ships' powerplant, with two geared steam turbines driving two ]shafts
''Shafts'' was an English feminist magazine produced by Margaret Sibthorp from 1892 until 1899. Initially published weekly and priced at one penny, its themes included votes for women, women's education, and radical attitudes towards vivisection, ...
and generating , and with one large funnel
A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening.
Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...
, was similar to that in the ''Oriani'' class and was sufficient to propel the destroyers to .[Whitley 1988, p. 169.][Roberts 1980, p. 301.]
Orders for a second batch of seven destroyers were placed in 1940. All except one of these ships were to carry the five main gun armament of ''Carabiniere''.
Construction and modifications
The first batch of ships were 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 ...
in 1937, being completed between 1938 and 1939,[Whitley 1988, p. 169.] with the second batch being laid down in 1940–1941, with five completing in 1942.[Whitley 1988, pp. 170–171.] ''Fuciliere'' and ''Velite'' were fitted with Italian radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
, while ''Legionario'' was fitted with a German radar.Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
for completion as a fighter direction ship carrying a long-range Freya radar
Freya was an early warning radar deployed by Germany during World War II; it was named after the Norse goddess Freyja. During the war, over a thousand stations were built. A naval version operating on a slightly different wavelength was also d ...
and German 105 mm and 20 mm guns, but she was sunk by Allied bombing in 1944.[Smigielski 1995, p. 200.]
Ships
Batch 1
}); retired 1960
, -
! scope="row" ,
, style="text-align: center;" , CB
, CT, Riva Trigoso
Riva may refer to:
People
* Riva (surname)
* Riva Castleman (1930–2014), American art historian, art curator and author
* Riva Ganguly Das (born 1961), Indian diplomat
* Riva (footballer), Brazilian former footballer Rivadávio Alves Pereir ...
, style="text-align: right;" , 1 February 1937
, style="text-align: right;" , 23 July 1938
, style="text-align: right;" , 20 December 1938
, Survived the war and served in the post war Italian Navy ( Marina Militare), decommissioned, 18 January 1965Italian Armistice
The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II.
It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...
, 9 September 1943; raised by Germans but sunk by air raid, 4 Sep 1944[Rohwer and Hümmelchen 1992, p. 197.]
, -
! scope="row" ,
, style="text-align: center;" , GN
, CNR, Palermo
, style="text-align: right;" , 5 April 1937
, style="text-align: right;" , 24 April 1938
, style="text-align: right;" , 1 February 1939
, Survived the war and served in the post war Italian Navy; stricken 1 July 1958Second Battle of Sirte
The Second Battle of Sirte (on 22 March 1942) was a naval engagement in the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Gulf of Sidra and southeast of Malta, during the Second World War. The escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta held off a much ...
, 23 March 1942
Batch 2
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Soldati class on Uboat.net
Soldati-class seconda serie
Marina Militare website
{{WWII Italian ships
Destroyer classes
Destroyers of the Regia Marina
Destroyers of the Italian Navy
Destroyers of the French Navy
Torpedo boats of the Kriegsmarine
Destroyers of the Soviet Navy
Italy–Soviet Union relations
Ship classes of the French Navy