Grecale was one of four s built for the (Royal Italian Navy) in the early 1930s. Completed in 1934, she served in World War II. She survived the war and continued her service with until 1964.

Design and description The Maestrale-class destroyers were a completely new design intended to rectify the stability problems of the preceding . They had a length between perpendiculars of and an overall length of . The ships had a beam of and a mean draft of Whitley, p. 168 and at deep load.Brescia, p. 121 They displaced at standard load, and at deep load. Their complement during wartime was 190 officers and enlisted men.Roberts, p. 300

The Maestrales were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by 3 three-drum boilers. The turbines were designed to produce and a speed of in service, although the ships reached speeds of during their sea trials while lightly loaded. They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at a speed of and at a speed of .

Their main battery consisted of four guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure.Fraccaroli, p. 55 Amidships were a pair of 15-caliber 120-millimeter star shell guns. Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the Maestrale-class ships was provided by four machine guns. They were equipped with six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships. Although the ships were not provided with a sonar system for anti-submarine work, they were fitted with a pair of depth charge throwers. The Maestrales could carry 56 mines.

During World War II, Grecales 40 mm guns and 13.2 mm machine guns were replaced with eight cannon, the addition of another pair of depth charge throwers, and the replacement of aft torpedo tubes and midships rangefinder with two single cannon. In 1949, her bridge was rebuilt and its design resembled British destroyers bridge. She also fitted with a lattice mast, new radars, and her light anti-aircraft guns now consisted of three 37 mm/54 guns. In 1952–1953, her 37 mm guns were replaced with six Bofors guns and the remaining torpedo tubes were removed. Grecale was converted into command ship in 1959–1960 and all of her armaments, saved for two Bofors 40 mm guns, were removed.Smigieski, p. 200

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Bibliography

External links

Grecale Marina Militare website