The ''Spica'' class were a class of

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 ...

s of the

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 ...

(Royal Italian Navy) 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. These ships were built as a result of a clause in the

Washington Naval Treaty The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was a treaty signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. It was negotiated at the Washington Nav ...

, which stated that ships with a tonnage of less than 600 could be built in unlimited numbers. Thirty-two ships were built between 1934 and 1937, thirty of which entered service with Italy and two of which were sold to the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels ...

in 1940. The two units in Swedish service were classified as destroyers until 1953, then re-classified as

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s. Although commonly referred to as torpedo boats due to their smaller displacement, the ''Spica'' class armaments were similar in design to destroyers (their design was influenced by the then in development) and were intended for

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

duties, although they often had to fight aircraft and surface forces as well. Twenty-three vessels were lost during World War II.

Design

The design work started in 1932, and two prototypes, ''Spica'' and ''Astore'', were built. The hull was long, and displacement was around standard rather than the permitted by the Washington treaty. Propulsion consisted of a two-shaft, geared turbine layout with two Yarrow–type boilers. The armament consisted of three /47 caliber dual-purpose guns in single mountings in 'A', 'X', and 'Y' positions and three or four twin

anti-aircraft 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 ...

machine guns—later replaced by 9 to 11 Breda 20/65 modello 35 20 mm cannons in various configurations. They also carried 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, two for each side, which had a shorter range and a smaller warhead than the ones in use on

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 ...

Ships

Notes to table:

Footnotes

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Classe Spica (1933-1940)
Marina Militare website
History of the class
at italie1935-45.com
Diving around the wreck of ''Aldebaran''
{{Authority control Torpedo boat classes World War II torpedo boats of Italy Ships built in Italy