The ''Indomito'' class was a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s of the Italian Royal Navy ( it, Règia Marina) before and during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Eight were built, six of which at

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

by Societa Pattison, between 1910 and 1913. They were the first large Italian destroyers and the first fitted with

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. The class is sometimes also called the I class. Two of the class were sunk during World War I, but the four surviving ships remained in service until 1937–38. One of the class, , was reinstated during

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 ...

and served in the ''Règia Marina'' and the German ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' before being sunk by U.S. aircraft in late 1944.

Design and construction

The ''Indomito'' class was designed by Luigi Scaglia of Societa Pattison of

. The boats were the first large destroyers of the ''Règia Marina'' and the first fitted with

s. The ''Indomito'' class were the first in the progression of Italian destroyers to be called either ''tre pipe'' or ''tre canne'' for their three

funnels 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 construc ...

.Fraccaroli, pp. 268–269Future destroyers, until the 1921–22 , were also called ''tre pipe'' or ''tre canne''. See: Fraccaroli, p. 268 The ships were at the waterline (

overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...

) with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

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 vessel ...

of . They had twin shafts driven by two Tosi steam turbines that were fired by four

Thornycroft Thornycroft was an English vehicle manufacturer which built coaches, buses, and trucks from 1896 until 1977. History In 1896, naval engineer John Isaac Thornycroft formed the Thornycroft Steam Carriage and Van Company which built its firs ...

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

s. The drivetrain was designed for a power output of to move the ships at , but had a maximum output of which propelled the ships at . As built, the ships were armed with one /40 gun, four /40 guns, and two

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 1914 they were augmented with an additional two torpedo tubes. During World War I, guide rails for laying up to ten

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

s were added to the ships. Later wartime changes replaced all the guns with five /35 and a single /39 AA gun. Oil capacity was also increased during the war from to in order to increase endurance, but the increased weight had the opposite effect: slowing the ships and reduced their endurance.

Service career

All of the ''Indomito'' class saw action during World War I, with two of the ships, and , sunk during the war. The remaining four ships all survived the war and were reclassified as

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 in 1929. The remaining four ships were stricken 1937–38. , however, was reinstated on 1 March 1941. Reduced to two funnels and rearmed, she served as a target ship, a convoy escort, and served in an

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

role. She was scuttled by her crew on 10 September 1943 at

Pola Pola or POLA may refer to: People *House of Pola, an Italian noble family *Pola Alonso (1923–2004), Argentine actress *Pola Brändle (born 1980), German artist and photographer *Pola Gauguin (1883–1961), Danish painter *Pola Gojawiczyńska (18 ...

, but was raised by the Germans who commissioned her as ''Wildfang'' on 8 November. ''Wildfang'', the last surviving member of the ''Indomito'' class, was sunk by U.S. aircraft on 5 November 1944 after just under one year of German service.

Ships

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Indomito-class destroyer (1910)
Marina Militare website {{WWI Italian ships Destroyer classes Destroyers of the Regia Marina World War I destroyers of Italy