The destroyer Espero at anchor |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: | Regia Marina Kriegsmarine |
| In commission: | 1927–1943 |
| Completed: | 8 |
| Lost: | 8 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Destroyer |
| Displacement: | 1,070 long tons (1,090 t) standard 1,670 long tons (1,700 t) full load |
| Length: | 93.2 m (305 ft 9 in) |
| Beam: | 9.2 m (30 ft 2 in) |
| Draught: | 3 m (9 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft Parsons type geared turbines 3 boilers 40,000 hp (29,800 kW) |
| Speed: | 36 knots (41 mph; 67 km/h) (39.5 knots achieved in trials) |
| Range: | 3,200 nmi (5,900 km) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 179 |
| Armament: | • 4 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns (2×2) • 2 × 40 mm pom-pom anti-aircraft guns • 2 × 31.2 mm machine guns • 6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (3×2) • 52 mines |
Turbine class was a class of destroyers built for the Italian Regia Marina in the late 1920s. They were essentially larger versions of the earlier Sella-class destroyer.
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During the Spanish Civil War, the Italian Navy 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 Conde de Abasolo on 13 August 1937,[1] while the Turbine sent to the botttom by the same means the Soviet Tymiryazev on 30 August, both of them off Algeria.[2]
At the beginning of World War II, when Italy declared war against Britain and France, all eight ships of the Turbine class were based in Tobruk, Libya. They were tasked with mine laying duties and running supplies between Tobruk and Taranto. On 16 June 1940, Turbine sank the British submarine HMS Orpheus just off Tobruk.[3]
Turbine, Aquilone and Nembo took part in the shelling of Sollum on 14 June 1940. They repeated this action on 26 June.[4]
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, HMAS Sydney sank the Espero as it lagged behind to allow the other two destroyers to reach Tobruk safely.[5]
On 5 July 1940, British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle launched an attack on Tobruk harbor. Its Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers sank the Zeffiro, and severely damaged the Euro. Later that month, on 20 July, another Swordfish from HMS Eagle spotted the Nembo and Ostro in the Gulf of Bomba and sank them both with torpedoes. On 17 September of the same year, Swordfish from HMS Illustrious attacked Benghazi harbor where Aquilone and Borea were berthed, and both were sunk.[6] Euro was part of the escort of the ill-fated Duisburg convoy, when her commander lost the opportunity of torpedoing the cruiser HMS Aurora due to an error of identification. On 3 July 1942, while escorting three freighters from Taranto to Benghazi along with the Navigatori class destroyer Da Verrazzano, Euro and Turbine shot down two Beaufort bombers.[7]
After the Italian armistice in September 1943, Euro was assigned to the allied fleet and was later sunk by German Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers off Leros Island, Greece.[8] Turbine was seized by the German Navy 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 sunk her before they could be entirely completed.[9]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Turbine_class_destroyer Turbine class destroyer] at Wikimedia Commons
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