The Spica-class was a class of torpedo boats of the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) during World War II. These ships were built as a result of a clause in the Washington Naval Treaty, which stated that ships with a tonnage of less than 600 could be built in unlimited numbers. Thirty-two ships were built between 1934 and 1937, thirty of which entered service with Italy.
Called torpedo boats due to their smaller displacement, the Spica-class had armament similar to destroyers (influenced by the Maestrale-class destroyer) and were intended for anti-submarine operations but also had to fight aircraft and surface ships. Twenty-three vessels were lost during the war, two had been sold to the Swedish Navy in 1940 and were called destroyers until 1953, and then renamed to corvettes.
Design
The design work started in 1932 supervised by the general engineer Gustavo Bozzoni. Two prototypes, Spica and Astore, were completed in 1935 and sold to the Swedish Navy. The hull was 81.4–65.72 m (267.1–215.6 ft) long, and displacement was around 789.31–799.29 t (776.84–786.67 long tons; 870.07–881.07 short tons) and 982–1,054.665 t (966.491–1,038.008 long tons; 1,082.470–1,162.569 short tons) standard rather than the 600 short tons (540 t) permitted by the Washington treaty. Propulsion consisted of a two-shaft, geared turbine layout with two Yarrow–type boilers.[1]
The gun armament consisted of three 100 mm (4 in)/47 caliber dual-purpose guns in single mountings in 'A', 'X', and 'Y' positions and three or four twin 13.2 mm (0.52 in)anti-aircraft machine guns, later replaced by 6 to 11 Breda 20/65 modello 35 20 mm cannon in various configurations. Lupo, for example, replaced her eight machine-guns by 1941 with three twin 20 mm guns; two abreast the bridge and one between the funnel and second main gun, leaving the former MG platform immediately abaft the funnel vacant.[1]
They also carried four 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes; two tubes for each side in the first group, with later groups having varying configurations including a centreline twin- and two single-beam mounts, before settling on two centreline twin mounts in the last vessels. Some earlier ships were reportedly refitted with the all-centreline arrangement during the war. This weapon had a shorter range and a smaller warhead than the 533 mm (21 in) torpedoes in use on destroyers.[citation needed] Twenty-one Spica-class torpedo boats were lost during the war, three mined by the submarine mine-layer HMS Rorqual, three sunk by submarines, seven by aircraft, seven by ships and one by a collision.[2]
Aretusa (F 556) in service with the Marina Militare in the 1950s
Sunk 12 October 1940 in the Battle of Cape Passero by cruiser HMS Ajax. She had three hits from her main guns on the British cruiser before being disabled; 59 men lost. Ajax hit by seven shells that destroyed one of her whalers, caused severe damage to the bridge and radar installation and 35 casualties, including 13 killed.[4]
Sunk 17 March 1941 at Valona, Albania by British torpedo-bombers.[7]
Antares
AN
Ansaldo, Sestri Ponente
23 December 1936
Sank Greek submarine Proteus by ramming 40 nmi (74 km; 46 mi) east of Brindisi, on 29 December 1940.[8] Sunk 28 March 1943 at Livorno by USAAF bombers.[9]
Aretusa
AU
Ansaldo, Sestri Ponente
1 July 1938
On 2 December 1942, while escorting a three-ship convoy, Aretusa shot down one of three Fairey Albacore that torpedoed the merchant ships south of Kerkennah Islands. One of the ships in the convoy was sunk by the aircraft and Lupo was sunk by British destroyers while recovering survivors at night. The remaining ships reached destination next morning. Severely damaged by bombing on 13 April 1943, repaired a few months later.[10] Survived the war and served in the post war Marina Militare. Decommissioned 1 August 1958.[9]
Ariel
AE
Ansaldo, Sestri Ponente
1 July 1938
Sunk 12 October 1940 in the battle of Cape Passero by British cruiser HMS Ajax, with the loss of 98 men.[11]
Sunk 5 December 1940, by mines from submarine mine-layer HMS Rorqual east of Tripoli.[9][13]
Calliope
CP
Ansaldo, Sestri Ponente
28 October 1938
Up to September 1943, she provided 117 escort missions to merchant ship convoys and took part in 21 various combat missions covering a total of more than 77,500 nmi (143,500 km; 89,200 mi). Shot down six British aircraft while escorting convoys to Libya.[14] Survived the war and served in the post war Marina Militare. Decommissioned 1 August 1958.[9]
On 13 January 1942, she led a convoy from Tripoli to Taranto that outmanoeuvred British destroyers HMS Jaguar, Lance, Lively and Zulu. The convoy, composed of the transports Monginevro and Monviso, had been spotted and attacked by Swordfish of 830 Squadron. Castore defeated British motor boats and small vessels attempting to land at Tobruk in Operation Agreement. She later rounded up a number of British survivors and small amphibious craft from the sea. Sunk 2 June 1943 by Allied destroyers HMS Jervis and Vasilissa Olga in the Battle of the Messina Convoy while defending a small convoy of two coasters, which reached their destination.[16]
She was part of the screen of destroyers and torpedo boats escorting a four-freighter convoy to Tripoli on 26 May 1941, when two Blenheim bombers were shot down.[17]Cigno rescued hundreds of Italian survivors after the Battle of Cape Bon, where she dodged four torpedoes launched by the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Isaac Sweers. Sunk in the Battle of the Cigno Convoy, 16 April 1943, south-east of Marettimo Island, by British destroyers HMS Paladin and HMS Pakenham, while escorting a transport ship to Tunis; Pakenham was repeatedly hit by Cigno and Cassiopea and had to be scuttled.[15]
She took part in the shooting down of three Beaufort torpedo-bombers and a Beaufighter while escorting a convoy, 20–21 August. 1942.[20] Climene was part of the escorting force that sank submarine HMS Triton on 24 April 1943. Sunk 28 April 1943 by submarine HMS Unshaken.[9]
Clio
CL
Ansaldo, Sestri Ponente
2 October 1938
Clio shot down a Swordfish torpedo bomber from the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious while escorting a four ship convoy off Sfax on 21 December 1940.[21][d][22] She also participated in the battle of Skerki Bank, on 2 December 1942. Survived the war and served in the post-war Marina Militare. Decommissioned 1959.[7]
Assisted her sister ship Lupo in the attack on Convoy AN 14 on the night of 31 January 1941 in the Kasos Strait.[23] On 13 March 1943, while escorting a four-ship convoy, Libra participate in the hunt of submarine HMS Thunderbolt, carrying out seven depth charge attacks. The submarine was sunk by the corvette Cicogna the following day.[24] Survived the war and served in the post war Marina Militare. Decommissioned 1964.[7]
Along with Lupo, she landed troops during Operation Abstention, the re-conquest of Kastelorizo, in February 1941. Grounded and later torpedoed and destroyed on 28 August 1943 by submarine HMS Ultor.[7]
Shot down two Blenheim bombers while escorting a two-steamer convoy from Tripoli to Benghazi on 11 July 1941; damaged by a mine, off Preveza on 26 July 1943. Scuttled in dry dock at Naples Four days of Naples on 11 September 1943 when German forces occupied the city.[7]
Defended a German convoy of caïques during the Battle of Crete against three British cruisers and four destroyers, inflicting minor damage to the destroyer HMS Kingston, according to Italian claims.[31] Sank British MGB 639 off Tunis, on 28 April 1943 whilst escorting a steamer off Kelibia. Survived the war and served in the Marina Militare. Decommissioned 1964.[7]
She was the first Italian unit to spot the enemy in the battle of Cape Spartivento,[32] and on 16 February 1943, Sirio led the escort of a four-ship convoy that detected by sonar and fought off the Motor Torpedo Boats MTB-77, MTB-82 and MTB-62 south of Marettimo.[33] Survived the war and served in the Marina Militare. Decommissioned 1959.[7]
Shot down a Swordfish torpedo bomber from Illustrious off Sfax on 21 December 1940 after two steamers she was escorting were torpedoed and lost.[34][g] Sunk by destroyer HMS Hereward 10 January 1941 in the strait of Sicily while attempting to ambush a British convoy to Malta.[7]
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Biagini, Antonello; Frattolillo, Fernando (1989). Diario storico del Comando Supremo: 1.1.1941 – 30.4.1941 [Diary of the Supreme Command] (in Italian). Rome: Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare. OCLC885562556.
Borgenstam, Curt; Insulander, Per & Kaudern, Gösta (1989). Jagare: med Svenska flottans jagare under 80 år [Destroyers: Swedish Navy Destroyers under 80 years] (in Swedish). Västra Frölunda: Marinlitteratur. ISBN978-9-19-707004-1. SELIBR7792227.
Brown, David (1995) [1990]. Warship losses of World War Two. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN978-0-85409-278-9.
Cull, Brian; Malizia, Nicola; Shores, Christopher (1999). Malta: The Hurricane Years. Grub Street. ISBN978-0-94-881706-9.
Fraccaroli, Aldo (1968). Italian Warships of World War II. London: Ian Allan. OCLC464456943.
Giorgerini, Giorgio (2001). La guerra italiana sul mare. La Marina tra vittoria e sconfitta 1940–1943 (in Italian). Mondadori. ISBN978-8-80-440581-8.
Giorgerini, Giorgio (2002). La guerra italiana sul mare. La Marina tra vittoria e sconfitta 1940–1943 [The Italian War at Sea: The Navy between Victory and Defeat 1940–1943] (in Italian). Milano: Mondadori. ISBN978-8-80-450150-3.
Green, Jack; Massignani, Alessandro (1998). The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN978-1-88-511961-2.
Greentree, David (2016). British Submarine vs. Italian Torpedo Boat, Mediterranean 1940–43. Duel (No.74) (ePub repr. Bloomsbury, London ed.). Oxford: Osprey. ISBN978-1-4728-1414-2.
H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action, 1939–1945. Britain: Admiralty. 1952. OCLC220864603.
Jordan, Roger W. (2006) [1999]. The World's Merchant Fleets 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships (2nd ed.). London: Chatham/Lionel Leventhal. ISBN978-1-86176-293-1.
Mattesini, Francesco (1998). L'operazione Gaudo e lo scontro notturno di Matapan [Operation Gaudo and the Night Clash of Matapan] (in Italian). Rome: Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare. OCLC45375070.
O'Hara, Vincent P. (2009). Struggle for the Middle Sea: The Great Navies at War in the Mediterranean Theater, 1940–1945. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-1-59114-648-3.
Roberti, Vero (1977). Uno contro sei: Il contributo della Marina italiana alla conquista di Creta [One Against Six: The Contribution of the Italian Navy to the Conquest of Crete] (in Italian). Milano: Mursia. OCLC4777680.
Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN1-86176-257-7.
Sadkovich, James (1994). The Italian Navy in World War II. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN0-313-28797-X.
Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian; Malizia, Nicola (1987). Air War For Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete 1940–41. London: Grub Street. ISBN0-948817-07-0.
Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian; Malizia, Nicola (1991). Malta: The Spitfire Year 1942. London: Grub Street. ISBN0-948817-16-X.
Woodman, Richard (2000). Malta Convoys, 1940–1943. London: Jack Murray. ISBN0-7195-5753-4.
Further reading
Birchfield, B.; Borgenstam, Carl; Caruana, Joseph & Frampton, Viktor (1988). "Question 3/87". Warship International. XXV (2): 205–210. ISSN0043-0374.
Brown, David (2002). The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean: November 1940 – December 1941. Whitehall Histories. Vol. II. London: Whitehall History in association with Frank Cass. ISBN0-7146-5205-9.
Fioravanzo; Pollina; Ricciardi; Gnifetti (1971). I cacciatorpediniere italiani, 1900–1971 [The Italian Destroyers, 1900–1971]. Le navi d'Italia (in Italian). Vol. V. Roma: Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare. OCLC249182201.
Naval Operations in the Battle of Crete (BR 1732 (2) Battle Summary No. 4. Naval Staff History. London: Admiralty Historical Section (HMSO). 1960. OCLC224008525.
Pack, S.W.C. (1973). The Battle for Crete. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-87021-810-7.