The ''Nembo'' class was a class of

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 ...

of 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 Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

'' (Royal Navy). Six destroyers were built by the Pattison shipyard of

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 ...

between 1899 and 1905, to a design based on the contemporary destroyers of the British shipyard

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 ...

. They were active in the Italo-Turkish War and in the

First World War 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 ...

, where three were lost.

Design

In 1899, work began at the Pattison shipyard of

on the first ships of a new class of destroyers, the ''Nembo'' class. The ''Nembo'' class were based on a design by the British shipbuilders

, and were similar to the Thirty-knotter destroyers that Thornycroft were building for the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

(such as ).Friedman 2009, p. 50. The ships were

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...

and between perpendiculars, 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 draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was normal and full load.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 356. Three

Thornycroft boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

s fed steam to two triple expansion steam engines rated at and driving two propeller shafts, giving a design speed of .Fraccaroli 1970, p. 65. The ships featured a raised turtleback

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

and two funnels.''Purnell's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Modern Weapons and Warfare'', p. 1877. Crew was between 51 and 58 officers and men. The first two ships of the class, and were armed with one 76 mm (3 in)/40 calibre gun (capable of firing a shell to a range of at a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute per gunFraccaroli 1970, pp. 281–282.) and five 57 mm/43 guns, with two 356 mm (14 in)

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, while the remaining four ships had a reduced gun armament of five 57 mm/43 guns, allowing an increased torpedo armament of four 356 mm torpedo tubes to be carried. The six ships of the class were completed between 1902 and 1905, reaching speeds of up to during

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 (corresponding to a realistic sea speed of ). ''Nembo'' and ''Turbine'' were rearmed in 1905 to match the other four ships. From 1908, all ships of the class were fitted with new oil-fired boilers, with a resulting change in the ships' profile, with three funnels being fitted rather than two. Sufficient oil was carried to give a range of at or at . The ships' armament was changed at the same time, to four 76 mm/40 guns and two 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes.

Service

The ships of the class were active during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912.Beehler 1913, pp. 10, 89. They were fitted for minelaying, with a capacity of 10–16 mines during the

, during which three destroyers were lost. Following the end of the war, the remaining three ships had a boiler removed, with the consequent loss of a funnel, together with a 76 mm gun, and were reclassified as torpedo boats.

Ships

Notes

Citations

References

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External links

Classe Nembo
Marina Militare website {{WWI Italian ships Destroyer classes World War I destroyers of Italy