The Turbine-class destroyer was a group of eight destroyers built for the (Royal Italian Navy) in the 1920s. The ships played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1937, supporting the Nationalists. All the ships of the class were lost during World War II.
Design and description The Turbine-class destroyers were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding . In an effort to improve their speed, they were lengthened and given more powerful propulsion machinery than the earlier ships. This provided more space for fuel oil which increased their endurance as well.
They had an overall length of , a beam of and a mean draft of .Whitley, p. 161 They displaced at standard load, and at deep load. Their complement was 12 officers and 167 enlisted men.
The Turbines were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by three Thornycroft boilers. The turbines were rated at for a speed of in service,Roberts, p. 299 although the ships reached speeds in excess of during their sea trials while lightly loaded.McMurtrie, p. 280 They carried of fuel oil which gave them a range of 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. 47 Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the Turbine-class ships was provided by a pair of AA guns in single mounts amidships and a twin-gun mount for machine guns. They were equipped with six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships. The Turbines could carry 52 mines.
Ships + Construction data Ship Builder Launched Date of loss Fate Odero 3 August 1927 17 September 1940 Sunk on mines laid by aircraft from outside Benghazi harbour with a loss of 13 men. Ansaldo 28 January 1927 17 September 1940 Sunk by aircraft from in Benghazi harbour with a loss of one man. Ansaldo 31 August 1927 28 June 1940 Sunk by off Tobruk during a troop transport mission to Tobruk. CNT 7 July 1927 3 October 1943 Sunk by German aircraft off Leros, Greece. CNT 27 January 1927 20 July 1940 Sunk by Swordfish torpedo bombers from in Tobruk harbour with a loss of 25 men. Ansaldo 2 January 1928 20 July 1940 Sunk by Swordfish torpedo bombers from in Tobruk harbour with a loss of 42 men. Odero 21 April 1927 16 September 1944 Sunk by rockets fired by USAAF aircraft in Salamis. Ansaldo 27 May 1927 5 July 1940 Sunk by Swordfish torpedo bombers from in Tobruk with a loss of 21 men.
History
During the Spanish Civil War, the Italians supported the Spanish Nationalists not only by assisting them with war supplies, but also through undercover operations against enemy shipping. In the course of these missions, the destroyer Ostro torpedoed and sank the Spanish Republican freighter on 13 August 1937,González Etchegaray, Rafael (1977). La Marina Mercante y el Trafico Maritimo en la Guerra Civil. Editorial San Martin, p. 416. while Turbine sank the Soviet cargo ship Timiryazev by the same means on 30 August, both of them off the coast of French Algeria.Rohwer, Jürgen and Monakov, Mikhail (2001). Stalin's ocean-going fleet: Soviet naval strategy and shipbuilding programmes, 1935-1953. Routledge, p. 66.
When Italy declared war against Britain and France during World War II, all eight ships of the Turbine class were based in Tobruk, Libya. They were tasked with mine laying duties and transporting supplies from Taranto to Tobruk. On 16 June 1940, Turbine sank the British submarine just off Tobruk.HMS Orpheus (N 46) from u-boat.net
Turbine, Aquilone, and Nembo took part in the shelling of the Egyptian port of Sollum on 14 June 1940. They repeated this action on 26 June.Rohwer, Jürgen, and Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1992). Chronology of the war at sea 1939-1945: the naval history of World War two. Naval Institute Press, p. 24.
On 28 June 1940, Espero, Ostro, and Zeffiro were in convoy, heavily loaded down with cargo, when they were intercepted by a British task force of five ships. In the ensuing battle, sank Espero as it lagged behind to allow the other two destroyers to reach Benghazi and later Tobruk safely.Greene & Massignani, pp. 63–65
On 5 July 1940, the British aircraft carrier attacked Tobruk harbor. Its Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers sank Zeffiro, and severely damaged Euro. Later that month, on 20 July, during another attack on Tobruk harbour, Swordfish from HMS Eagle torpedoed and sank both Nembo and Ostro. On 17 September of the same year, Swordfish from attacked Benghazi harbor where Aquilone and Borea were berthed, and both were sunk.Aircraft Carrier Warfare, 1939-41, from Naval-History.net Euro was part of the escort of the ill-fated Duisburg convoy, when her commander lost the opportunity of torpedoing the cruiser due to an error of identification. On 3 July 1942, while escorting three freighters from Taranto to Benghazi along with the Da Verrazzano, Euro and Turbine shot down two Beaufort bombers.Shores, Cull & Malizia (1991). Malta: The Spitfire Year 1942. Grub Street, p. 387.
After Italy signed the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943, Euro participated in the Battle of Leros where she was sunk by German Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers during an air raid on 3 October 1943.Comando Supremo, Events of 1943 Turbine was seized by the Kriegsmarine and put into service in the Aegean Sea as a torpedo boat. On 19 June 1944, at Porto Lago, she was badly damaged by an explosion, which was thought to have been sabotage. She set in to the port of Salamis for repairs, but a US air strike on the port on 16 September sank her before they could be entirely completed.Kriegsmarine history page
Notes
Bibliography
External links
Uboat.net: Turbine class destroyers SteelNavy Ship Modeling: Turbine class