The Sirio class (also known as the Saffo class) was a class of six sea-going steam-powered torpedo boats of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) built by the German shipyard Schichau-Werke from 1904–1906. They served in the Italo-Turkish War and the First World War.
Design In 1904, work began at the German shipyard of Schichau-Werke, Elbing (now Elbląg, Poland) on a class of six torpedo-boats for the Italian Navy. They were long between perpendiculars and overall, with a beam of and a draught of . Two Coal-fired Schultz-Thornycroft boilers fed Vertical triple-expansion steam engines rated at , giving a rated speed of , which corresponded to an in-service sea speed of about . Sufficient coal was carried to give a range of at or at .Fock 1979, p. 142 Displacement was .
Three torpedo tubes were fitted, with a gun armament of three 47 mm guns. The ships had a crew of 38 officers and men.
Service On delivery, the ships of the class equipped the 1st Squadron of High Seas Torpedo Boats, based first at La Spezia and then at Messina. The ships of the class were active during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, with Spica leading four Pegaso-class torpedo boats on a reconnaissance of the Dardanelles on the night of 18/19 July 1912, penetrating under fire about before being stopped by a boom across the straits, and then escaping with little damage and no casualties.Beehler 1913, pp. 87–90. Two ships, Scorpione and Serpente, were lost following collisions during the First World War, with the remaining ships being rearmed, with two 76 mm anti-aircraft guns replacing the 47 mm guns. A third ship, Saffo was lost after running aground off Turkey on 2 April 1920. The surviving ships were disposed of in 1923.
Ships Ship Laid down Launched Completed Operational History27 December 190413 May 190529 September 1905Discarded 4 March 192320 December 190431 May 19053 November 1905Discarded 4 January 192314 January 190515 July 190522 November 1905Discarded 4 March 192317 January 190514 September 190513 December 1905Sank following collision with French gunboat Surveillente 15 May 1917190530 October 190512 February 1906Sank after collision with Italian merchant ship Citta di Bari 28 June 1916190530 November 19051 March 1906Lost after running aground Scalanova Bay, Turkey, 2 April 1920
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External links Classe Sirio (1905) Marina Militare website