Sella class destroyer

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Sella class destroyers were a group of destroyers built for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1920s Two of these ships fought in World War II and were sunk. Two more ships were sold to the Swedish navy in 1940 and were scrapped in the late 1940s.

These ships formed the basis for most subsequent destroyers built by the Italians, but were disappointing in service with unreliable machinery. They were based in the Dodecanese and were used as the Mother Ships for the attack by explosive motor boats on HMS York

[edit] General characteristics

Displacement: 970tons standard, 1,480 tons full load
Length: 89.4 m
Beam: 8.6 m
Draught: 2.7 m
Machinery: 2 shaft Parsons type geared turbines, 3 boilers, 36,000hp
Speed: 35 knots
Range: 1,800 nm at 14 knots
Armament:
- 4 - 120mm guns (2x2)
- 2 - 40mm pom pom anti-aircraft guns
- 2 - 13.2 mm machine guns
- 4 - 533mm torpedo tubes (2x2)
- 32 Mines
Crew: 153

[edit] Ships

All four ships were built by Pattison, Naples

Francesco Crispi - named after Francesco Crispi, completed 29 April 1927, seized by the Germans after the Italian Armistice in September 1943, served as the TA15, sunk by air attack 8 March 1944 in the Aegean Sea
Quintino Sella - named after Quintino Sella, completed 25 March 1926, sunk by German E-Boats on 11 September 1943
Bettino Ricasoli - named after Bettino Ricasoli, commissioned 11 December 1926, Sold to the Swedish Navy as the Puke
Giovanni Nicotera - named after Giovanni Nicotera, commissioned 8 January 1927, Sold to the Swedish Navy as the Psilander