Freccia-class destroyer
 Italian destroyer Freccia | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
_crowned.svg.png){kind=small} Regia Marina Royal Hellenic Navy |
| Built: | 1929–1933 |
| In commission: | 1931–1946 |
| Completed: | 8 |
| Lost: | 6 |
| Scrapped: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Destroyer |
| Displacement: |
1,205 long tons (1,224 t) standard 2,116 long tons (2,150 t) full load |
| Length: | 96.15 m (315 ft 5 in) |
| Beam: | 9.75 m (32 ft 0 in) |
| Draught: | 3.15 m (10 ft 4 in) |
| Installed power: | 44,000 shp (33,000 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
2 shafts, Parsons type geared steam turbines 3 boilers |
| Speed: | 38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph) |
| Range: | 4,600 nmi (8,500 km; 5,300 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 185 |
| Armament: |
2 × 2 - 120 mm (4.7 in) guns 2 × 40 mm "pom-pom" AA guns 4 × 13.2 mm machine guns 6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes 54 mines |
The Freccia class destroyer was a class of destroyers built for the Regia Marina, the Italian Royal Navy, in the 1930s. It was basically an enlarged version of the earlier Turbine class destroyers. Four modified ships were built and delivered in 1933 for Greece.
List of ships of Freccia class
Italian Navy
- RN Dardo
- Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente,
- Launched September 6, 1930 - completed 25 January 1932
- Captured by the Germans and renamed TA31. Scuttled on April 24, 1945.
- RN Freccia
- Built by CT Riva Trigioso,
- launched August 3, 1930 - completed 21 October 1931
- During the Spanish Civil War, on 15 August 1937, she torpedoed and damaged the Panamanian tanker George McKnight off Tunis.
- Sunk on August 8, 1943 off Genoa by bombing.
- RN Saetta
- built by CT Riva Trigioso,
- launched January 17, 1932 - completed 10 May 1932
- During the Spanish Civil War, on 11 August 1937, she torpedoed and sank the Spanish Republican tanker Campeador in the strait of Sicily.
- Sunk by a mine on February 3, 1943 with the loss of 170 men including Lt. Cdr. Enea Picchio, the commanding officer, while 39 men survived.
- RN Strale
- Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente,
- launched March 26, 1931 - completed 6 February 1932
- Rammed and sunk British submarine HMS Odin on 14 June 1940. Beached herself on June 21, 1942 near Cape Bon and was finished off by torpedoes from British submarine HMS Turbulent.
Hellenic Navy
The Greek Navy ordered four destroyers from Italy in 1929 to a modified design as the Kondouriotis class. The chief difference with the Italian ships was the substitution of four single 120 mm guns (Ansaldo Model 1926) for the twin turrets used in the Italian Navy ships.
- RHS Hydra -
- Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente, launched 21 October 1931, Commissioned November 1932
- Sunk by German aircraft, April 22, 1941.
- RHS Spetsai -
- Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente, Commissioned May 1933
- Served during World War II, decommissioned in 1946, Scrapped 1947.
- RHS Psara
- Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente, Commissioned May 1933
- sunk by German aircraft, April 20, 1941.
- RHS Kountouriotis -
- built by Odero, Sestri Ponente, Launched 29 August 1931, Commissioned November 1932
- served during World War II, decommissioned and scrapped in 1946.
The two surviving ships; Spetsai and Kondouriotis fought with the Free Greek Navy in the Eastern Meditarranean until late 1943 when they were laid in Port Said, Egypt because these Italian built ships could not be maintained through lack of spare pars and because their crews were needed for new ships provided to the Free Greek Navy by Britain.
References
- Axis History Factbook
- Whitley, M.H. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Cassell Publishing. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
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