The Soldato class (also known as the Soldati class) was a class of destroyers of the Italian (Royal Navy) built by Ansaldo of Genoa prior to the First World War. Ten were built for the Regia Marina between 1905 and 1910, while an eleventh ship was built for China but purchased by Italy before completion. They served during the First World War, where one was lost, with the remaining ships sold for scrap in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Design The Soldato class was ordered from Ansaldo as an improved version of the , a class of six turtleback destroyers built for the Italian Navy by the Pattison shipyard of Naples to a modified Thornycroft design between 1899 and 1905.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 356.Fraccaroli 1970, p. 65. The new design carried a more powerful armament than the earlier ships, with four 76 mm (3 in)/40 calibre guns (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 three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes instead of the five 57 mm guns and four 356 mm (14 in) tubes carried by the Nembo class.
The ships were powered by two sets of triple expansion steam engines fed by three Thornycroft water-tube boilers and driving two propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at to give a speed of . The ships were fitted with three funnels. Six ships (the Artigliere group) had coal-fired boilers, carrying 95 t of coal, sufficient to give a range of at a speed of or at . Four more ships (the Alpino group) were fitted with oil-fired boilers, with 65 t of oil giving a range of at 12 knots.
All 10 ships were laid down in 1905, with the first four ships of the Artigliere group completed in 1907, with the remaining ships delivered in 1910. In 1910, China placed an order for a single destroyer based on the Soldato class, to be named Ching Po or Tsing Po. This ship was to have a gun armament of two 76 mm and four 47 mm guns, and was designed to use mixed fuel, with one boiler being coal-fired and two being oil-fired. In 1912, the under-construction ship was acquired by Italy, and renamed Ascaro. The ship's armament was revised to conform with the rest of the class, but the ship retained its non-standard machinery.
Service The Soldato class were the most modern destroyers in the Regia Marina when the Italo-Turkish War broke out. Soldato-class destroyers took place in both the Battle of Preveza, where Italian destroyers, including and sank three Turkish torpedo boats.Hythe 1912, pp. 160–161.Beehler 1913, pp. 22–23. and the Battle of Kunfuda Bay, where the protected cruiser , together with Artigliere and sank seven gunboats.Beehler 1913, pp. 50–51.Hythe 1912, pp. 166–167.
One ship, Garibaldino, was lost following a collision on 16 July 1918. The remaining ships were reclassified as torpedo boats on 1 July 1921 and were gradually discarded through the 1920s and early 1930s, with the final ship, stricken on 15 December 1932.
Ships Artigliere group Ship Laid downFraccaroli 1970, pp. 66–67. Launched Completed Operational History 24 July 190518 January 190726 August 1907Stricken 14 June 192313 July 19052 October 190613 April 1907Stricken 5 July 192323 October 190511 December 190916 May 1910Sticken 1 June 192823 October 190512 February 19101 June 1910Sank following collision with trawler Cygnet off Villefranche-sur-Mer 16 July 1918.24 July 190527 October 190618 April 1907Stricken 3 November 192724 July 190527 February 19071 August 1907Stricken 4 March 1923
Alpino group Ship Laid downFraccaroli 1970, p. 67. Launched Completed Operational History4 December 190527 November 19091 April 1910Stricken 1 June 19287 November 190512 October 190926 January 1910Stricken 7 May 192528 October 190521 August 190926 January 1910Stricken 15 December 193218 November 19053 January 191011 February 1910Ran aground off Sardinia 14 September 1911, salvaged and repaired at Taranto and relaunched 1 November 1913. Stricken 1 July 1929.
Ascaro Ship Laid downFraccaroli 1970, p. 68. Launched Completed Operational History19116 December 191221 July 1913Stricken 31 May 1930
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External links Soldato-class destroyer Marina Militare website