Turbine-class Destroyer

The ''Turbine''-class destroyer was a group of eight destroyers built for the (Royal Italian Navy) in the 1920s. The ships played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1937, supporting the Nationalists. All the ships of the class were lost during World War II.

Design and description

The ''Turbine''-class destroyers were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding . In an effort to improve their speed, they were lengthened and given more powerful propulsion machinery than the earlier ships. This provided more space for fuel oil which increased their endurance as well.

They had an overall length of , a beam of and a mean draft of .Whitley, p. 161 They displaced at standard load, and at deep load. Their complement was 12 officers and 167 enlisted men.

The ''Turbine''s were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by three Thornycroft boilers. The turbines were rated at for a speed of in service,Roberts, p. 299 although the ships reached speeds in excess of during their sea trials while lightly loaded. They carried of fuel oil which gave them a range of at a speed of .

Their main battery consisted of four guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure.Fraccaroli, p. 47 Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the ''Turbine''-class ships was provided by a pair of AA guns in single mounts amidships and a twin-gun mount for machine guns. They were equipped with six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships. The ''Turbine''s could carry 52 mines.

Ships

History

During the Spanish Civil War, the Italians supported the Spanish Nationalists not only by assisting them with war supplies, but also through undercover operations against enemy shipping. In the course of these missions, the destroyer ''Ostro'' torpedoed and sank the Spanish Republican freighter on 13 August 1937, while ''Turbine'' sank the Soviet cargo ship ''Timiryazev'' by the same means on 30 August, both of them off the coast of French Algeria.

At the beginning of World War II, when Italy declared war against Britain and France, all eight ships of the ''Turbine'' class were based in Tobruk, Libya. They were tasked with mine laying duties and running supplies between Tobruk and Taranto. On 16 June 1940, ''Turbine'' sank the British submarine just off Tobruk.

''Turbine'', ''Aquilone'' and ''Nembo'' took part in the shelling of the Egyptian port of Sollum on 14 June 1940. They repeated this action on 26 June.Rohwer, Jürgen and Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). ''Chronology of the war at sea 1939-1945: the naval history of World War two''. Naval Institute Press, p. 24.

On 28 June 1940, ''Espero'', ''Ostro'' and ''Zeffiro'' were in convoy, heavily loaded down with cargo, when they were intercepted by a British task force of five ships. In the ensuing battle, sank ''Espero'' as it lagged behind to allow the other two destroyers to reach Benghasi and later Tobruk safely.

On 5 July 1940, British aircraft carrier launched an attack on Tobruk harbor. Its Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers sank ''Zeffiro'', and severely damaged ''Euro''. Later that month, on 20 July, during another attack on Tobruk harbour, other Swordfish from HMS ''Eagle'' sank with torpedoes both ''Nembo'' and ''Ostro''. On 17 September of the same year, Swordfish from attacked Benghazi harbor where ''Aquilone'' and ''Borea'' were berthed, and both were sunk. ''Euro'' was part of the escort of the ill-fated ''Duisburg'' convoy, when her commander lost the opportunity of torpedoing the cruiser due to an error of identification. On 3 July 1942, while escorting three freighters from Taranto to Benghazi along with the ''Da Verrazzano'', ''Euro'' and ''Turbine'' shot down two Beaufort bombers.

After Italy signed the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943, ''Euro'' participated in the Battle of Leros where she was sunk by German Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers during an air raid on 3 October 1943. ''Turbine'' was seized by the ''Kriegsmarine'' and put into service in the Aegean Sea as a torpedo boat. On 19 June 1944, at Porto Lago, she was badly damaged by an explosion, which was thought to have been sabotage. She set in to the port of Salamis for repairs, but a US air strike on the port on 16 September sank her before they could be entirely completed.Kriegsmarine history page
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Notes

Bibliography

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External links

{{WWII Italian ships

Destroyer classes

Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War
Destroyers of the Regia Marina