The Sirio class (also known as the Saffo class[a]) was a class of six sea-going steam-powered torpedo boats of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) built by the German shipyard Schichau-Werke from 1904–1906. They served in the Italo-Turkish War and the First World War.
Design
In 1904, work began at the German shipyard of Schichau-Werke, Elbing (now Elbląg, Poland) on a class of six torpedo-boats for the Italian Navy.[4][b] They were 50.00 metres (164 ft 1 in) long between perpendiculars and 51.07 metres (167 ft 7 in) overall, with a beam of 6.00 metres (19 ft 8 in) and a draught of 1.60 metres (5 ft 3 in).[1] Two Coal-fired Schultz-Thornycroft boilers fed Vertical triple-expansion steam engines rated at 3,000–3,100 indicated horsepower (2,200–2,300 kW), giving a rated speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph),[1][5] which corresponded to an in-service sea speed of about 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).[4][c] Sufficient coal was carried to give a range of 598 nmi (688 mi; 1,107 km) at 23 kn (26 mph; 43 km/h) or 1,920 nmi (2,210 mi; 3,560 km) at 8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h).[7]Displacement was 210 tonnes (207 long tons).[4]
Three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes were fitted, with a gun armament of three 47 mm guns. The ships had a crew of 38 officers and men.[1]
Service
On delivery, the ships of the class equipped the 1st Squadron of High Seas Torpedo Boats, based first at La Spezia and then at Messina.[3] The ships of the class were active during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912,[3] with Spica leading four Pegaso-class torpedo boats on a reconnaissance of the Dardanelles on the night of 18/19 July 1912, penetrating under fire about 18 kilometres (11 mi) before being stopped by a boom across the straits, and then escaping with little damage and no casualties.[8] Two ships, Scorpione and Serpente, were lost following collisions during the First World War, with the remaining ships being rearmed, with two 76 mm anti-aircraft guns replacing the 47 mm guns.[4] A third ship, Saffo was lost after running aground off Turkey on 2 April 1920.[4] The surviving ships were disposed of in 1923.[4]
Lost after running aground Scalanova Bay, Turkey, 2 April 1920[4]
Notes
^Chesneau and Kolesnik,[1] Fock[2] and the current Italian Navy[3] refer to the class as the Sirio class, while Fraccaroli[4] and Purnell's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Modern Weapons and Warfare[5] refer to the Saffo class.
^Work also begun in at the Pattison shipyard of Naples on four torpedo boats of similar size to a design by the British torpedo-craft specialist Thornycroft, the initial members of the Pegaso-class torpedo boat.[6]
^Speeds of up to 25.7 knots (47.6 km/h; 29.6 mph) were reached during sea trials.[4]
^Fraccaroli swaps the dates and circumstances of the loss of Scorpione and Serpente.[4]
Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War, Sept. 29, 1911 to Oct. 18, 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Advertiser-Republican.
Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0-85177-133-5.
Fock, Harald (1979). Schwartze Gesellen: Band 1: Torpedoboote bis 1914 (in German). Herford, Germany: Koehlers Verlagsgesellsachft mbH. ISBN3-7822-0193-0.
Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War 1. London: Ian Allan. ISBN0-7110-0105-7.
