The Leone class were a group of destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s built for the Italian Navy

Regia Marina

The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...

 in the early 1920s. Five ships were planned and three completed. All three ships were based at Massawa

Massawa

Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...

, Eritrea

Eritrea

Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

 during World War II and were sunk during the East African Campaign

East African Campaign (World War II)

The East African Campaign was a series of battles fought in East Africa during World War II by the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations and several allies against the forces of Italy from June 1940 to November 1941....

.

Design

The ships were designed as scout cruiser

Scout cruiser

A scout cruiser was a type of warship of the early 20th Century, which were smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured than protected cruisers or light cruisers, but larger than contemporary destroyers...

s (esploratori), essentially enlarged versions of contemporary destroyers. They were initially ordered in 1917, but postponed due to steel shortages, and re-ordered in 1920.

Each ship of the class carried, for its size, an extremely heavy armament of eight 4.7 inches (119.4 mm) guns, paired into four powered turrets on the centre line. While only two guns could aim directly fore or aft, the all-eight-gun broadside

Broadside

A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...

 was not matched by any other destroyer-type ship until the American Porter class destroyer

Porter class destroyer

The Porter-class destroyers were a class of eight 1,850-ton destroyers in the United States Navy.The first four ships were laid down in 1933 by New York Shipbuilding and the next four in 1934 at Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts...

s of 1936.

Operational history

The ships were outfitted for colonial service, and by 1935 they were deployed in the naval base of Massawa

Massawa

Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...

, Eritrea

Eritrea

Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

. The ships were re-rated as destroyers in 1938 and fought in World War II, when the Italian entry in the war left Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa was an Italian colonial administrative subdivision established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...

 isolated from Italy.

Attack on convoy BN 7

The only appreciable action in which the destroyers were involved was the attack on the Allied convoy BN 7, on the first hours of 21 October 1940. Leone and Pantera, along with the Nullo and Sauro

Sauro class destroyer

The Sauro Class were a group of destroyers built for the Italian Navy in the late 1920s. They were based in the Red Sea Italian colony of Eritrea and all fought in World War II being sunk during the East African Campaign in 1941....

, shelled the convoy and its escort, inflicting some splinter damage to the leading transport ship, and launched at least two torpedoes aimed at HMAS Yarra

HMAS Yarra (U77)

HMAS Yarra , named for the Yarra River, was a Grimsby class sloop of the Royal Australian Navy that served during World War II. Commissioned in 1936, Yarra spent the early part of the war in Australian waters, then was transferred to the East Indies Station in 1940...

, which successfully dodged them. The attack was nevertheless repulsed by the cruiser HMS Leander

HMNZS Leander

HMNZS Leander was a light cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II. She was the lead ship of a class of eight ships, the Leander class light cruiser and was initially named HMS Leander.- History :...

, who fired 129 six-inch rounds on the Italian destroyers. Leone, Pantera and Sauro successfully disengaged but Nullo was chased by HMS Kimberley and forced to run aground on Harmil

Harmil

Harmil is an uninhabitated island in Eritrea and part of the Dahlak Archipelago.-See also:*List of islands of Africa...

 island, where she was later wrecked by RAF

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 Blenheim bombers. Kimberley took two hits from coastal batteries, and had to be towed to Aden

Aden

Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...

 by HMS Leander.

Last mission

The destroyers remained at dock in Massawa until the very end of ground operations in East Africa. Their commander ordered them to steam out on 31 March 1940, for a naval bombardment against targets around the Suez canal

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...

, in a mission without return. Leone ran aground off Massawa, and was sunk by her sister ships. After being spotted and harassed by British aircraft, Pantera and Tigre reached the Arabia

Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...

n shores, where their crews scuttled them.

Ships

Ship	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Leone	23 November 1921	1 October 1923	1 July 1924	Wrecked on uncharted rock 1 April 1941
Pantera	19 December 1921	18 October 1923	28 October 1924	Scuttled 3/4 April 1941
Tigre	23 January 1922	7 August 1924	10 October 1924	Scuttled 3/4 April 1941

Two more ships Lince and Leopardo were cancelled in 1920 or 1921.