Curtatone-class destroyer

The Curtatone class were a group of destroyers built for the Royal Italian Navy.

A line drawing of Curtatone
Class overview
Builders	Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando, Livorno
Operators	Regia Marina Kriegsmarine
Preceded by	Generali class
Succeeded by	Spica class
Built	1920–1924
In commission	1924–1951
Completed	4
Lost	3
Retired	1
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	876 long tons (890 t) standard 890 long tons (900 t) full load
Length	84.72 m (277 ft 11 in)
Beam	8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Draught	2.46 m (8 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	2 shaft Zoelly steam turbines 4 Thornycroft type boilers 22,000 hp (16,400 kW)
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range	1,800 nmi (3,300 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	117
Armament	4 × 102 mm guns (2 × 2) 2 × 76 mm AA guns (2 × 2) 6 × 13.2 mm machine guns 6 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes (2 × 3) 16 mines

They were the first destroyers to be built in Italy after the end of World War I, and were the first ships of this type to use twin rather than single mountings.

The ships were originally ordered at the same time as the Palestro-class destroyers, but were postponed due to steel shortages. The opportunity was taken to modify the design to incorporate experience and lengthen the ships by 4.5 metres (14 ft 9 in).

The ships were later modernized for escort duties with the twin guns being replaced by singles and the triple 450-millimetre (18 in) torpedo tubes replaced by twin 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes. Extra light anti-aircraft guns were also fitted and the 76 mm (3.0 in)/40 caliber guns removed.

Ships

All four ships were built by Orlando yard in Livorno.

Construction data

Ship	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Service/​Fate
Calatafimi	1 December 1920	17 March 1923	24 May 1924	Captured by the Germans at Piraeus on 9 September 1943 - served as TA19, sunk by Greek submarine Pipinos 19 August 1944 in the Aegean Sea.
Castelfidardo	20 July 1920	4 June 1922	7 March 1924	Captured by the Germans at Piraeus on 9 September 1943 - served as TA16, sunk by Allied aircraft 2 June 1944 in the Aegean.
Curtatone	3 January 1920	17 March 1922	21 June 1923	Sunk by a mine near Athens on 20 May 1941.
Monzambano	20 January 1921	6 August 1923	4 June 1923	Survived the war. It was decommissioned in April 1951.

Bibliography

• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.
• Whitley, M.J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Cassell Publishing. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.

External links

• Curtatone Marina Militare website