The Soldati class (also known as Camicia Nera class) were a group of destroyers built for the Italian Navy

Regia Marina

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

 during World War II. The ships were named after military professions (Artigliere, for example, meaning "artilleryman"). There were two batches; twelve ships were built in 1938-39, and a second batch of seven ships were ordered in 1942, although only five were completed.

Ten ships of the class were lost during the war. Of the survivors three were transferred to the French Navy and two to the Soviet Navy as war reparations

War reparations

War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...

, while two served in the Italian post-war navy, the Marina Militare

Marina Militare

The Italian Navy is the navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of military forces of Italy; formed in 1946, from what remained of the Regia Marina . As of 2008, the Italian Navy had 35,200 active personnel with 180 commissioned ships, 19 Floating Docks, and 123 aircraft...

.

Design

This class were essentially a repeat of the Oriani destroyer

Oriani class destroyer

The Oriani Class were a group of four destroyers built for the Italian Navy in the late 1930s. They were a repeat of the Maestrale class destroyers, but had increased machinery power and a different anti-aircraft armament. The increase in power, however, disappointed in that there was only a...

 design. The anti-aircraft armament was increased and a 120 mm starshell gun was installed amidships. In batch two, the starshell gun was replaced by a single full size 120 mm gun. Some ships were fitted with radar in 1942.

Batch 1

• Alpino - named after the Alpini
  Alpini
  The Alpini, , are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpini Corps Command. The singular is Alpino ....
  
   military corps

Built by CNR Ancona, completed 20 April 1939,

Lost 19 April 1943 when it was bombed by the US Air Force in La Spezia Harbour.

• Artigliere - ("Gunner")

Built by OTO Livorno, completed 14 November 1938

Lost 12 October 1940, sunk by HMS York

HMS York (90)

HMS York, pennant number 90, was a heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy built in the late 1920s. She mostly served on the North America and West Indies Station before World War II. Early in the war the ship escorted convoys in the Atlantic and participated in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940...

 at the battle of Cape Passero

Battle of Cape Passero (1940)

The Battle of Cape Passero , was a Second World War naval engagement between the British light cruiser and seven torpedo boats and destroyers of the Regia Marina, southeast of Sicily, in the early hours of 12 October 1940...

.

• Ascari, named for the Italian term for a locally conscripted soldier of a colony -

Built by OTO Livorno, completed 6 May 1939,

Took part of the successful attack on Harpoon

Operation Harpoon (1942)

Not to be confused with Operation Harpoon Operation Harpoon was one of two simultaneous Allied convoys sent to supply Malta in the Axis-dominated Mediterranean Sea in mid-June 1942, during the Second World War. One convoy, Operation Vigorous, left Alexandria. The other, Operation Harpoon, travelled...

 convoy in June 1942, lost on 24 March 1943 after hitting a mine.

• Aviere ("airmen") -

Built by OTO Livorno, completed 31 August 1938,

Lost on 17 December 1942; Sunk by the British submarine HMS Splendid (P228)

HMS Splendid (P228)

HMS Splendid was an S class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on January 13 1942.-Career:...

• Bersagliere - named after the Bersaglieri
  Bersaglieri
  The Bersaglieri are a corps of the Italian Army originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Piedmontese Army, later to become the Royal Italian Army...
  
   -

Built by CNR Palermo, completed on 1 April 1939,

Lost on 7 January 1943 after being bombed in Palermo harbour.

• Camicia Nera ("blackshirt"), renamed Artigliere after the fall of the Fascist regime in 1943 -

Built by OTO Livorno, completed 30 June 1938

Survived the war, given to the Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

 as war reparations

War reparations

War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...

, served in the Black Sea as the Lovkiy (Ловкий), decommissioned in 1960.

• Carabiniere - named after the Carabinieri
  Carabinieri
  The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
  
  

Built by CT Riva Trigoso, completed on 20 December 1938.

She survived the war and served in the post war Italian Navy (Marina Militare

Marina Militare

The Italian Navy is the navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of military forces of Italy; formed in 1946, from what remained of the Regia Marina . As of 2008, the Italian Navy had 35,200 active personnel with 180 commissioned ships, 19 Floating Docks, and 123 aircraft...

), being decommissioned on 18 January 1965.

• Corazziere ("cuirassier") -

Built by OTO Livorno, completed 4 March 1939,

Scuttled during the Italian Armistice

Armistice with Italy

The Armistice with Italy was an armistice signed on September 3 and publicly declared on September 8, 1943, during World War II, between Italy and the Allied armed forces, who were then occupying the southern end of the country, entailing the capitulation of Italy...

 of 9 September 1943.

• Fuciliere ("Fusilier") -

Built by CNR Ancona completed 10 January 1939,

Survived the war, given to the Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

 as war reparations, served in the Black Sea Fleet

Black Sea Fleet

The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....

 as the Liogkiy (Лёгкий), decommissioned in 1960.

• Geniere ("Engineer") -

Built by OTO Livorno, completed 14 December 1938.

She was lost on 1 March 1943 when it was bombed by USAAF in Palermo Harbour.

• Granatiere ("grenadier") -

Built by CNR Palermo, completed on 1 February 1939,

Survived the war and served in the post war Italian Navy (Marina Militare

Marina Militare

The Italian Navy is the navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of military forces of Italy; formed in 1946, from what remained of the Regia Marina . As of 2008, the Italian Navy had 35,200 active personnel with 180 commissioned ships, 19 Floating Docks, and 123 aircraft...

), being decommissioned on 1 July 1958.

• Lanciere ("lancer") -

Built by CT Riva Trigoso, completed 25 March 1939,

Lost in a storm on 23 March 1942 following the Second Battle of Sirte

Second Battle of Sirte

The Second Battle of Sirte was a naval engagement in which the escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta frustrated a much more powerful Regia Marina squadron. The British convoy was composed of four merchant ships escorted by four light cruisers, one anti-aircraft cruiser, and 17 destroyers...

, with five survivors in the crew.

Batch 2

• Bombardiere ("bomber") -

Built by CNR Ancona, completed 15 July 1942.

Sunk on 17 January 1943 by British submarine .

• Carrista ("tank crew") -

Built by OTO Livorno, not completed, cancelled 1941.

• Corsaro ("corsair") -

Built by OTO Livorno, completed on 16 May 1942,

Sunk by mines of 9 January 1943.

• Legionario ("legionnaire") -

Built by OTO Livorno, completed 1 March 1942,

Survived the war, transferred to the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

 as a war reparation served as the Duchaffault until June 1954.

• Mitragliere ("machine gunner") -

Built by CNR Ancona, completed 1 February 1942,

Survived the war, transferred to the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

 as a war reparation, served as the Jurien de la Graviere until June 1954.

• Squadrista ("Fascist squad man") -

Built by OTO Livorno, not completed.

• Velite ("Veles
  Velites
  Velites were a class of infantry in the Polybian legions of the early Roman republic. Velites were light infantry and skirmishers who were armed with a number of light javelins, or hastae velitares, to fling at the enemy, and also carried short thrusting swords, or gladii for use in melee...
  
  ")-

Built by OTO Livorno, completed on 31 August 1942,

Survived the war, transferred to the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

as a war reparation, served as the Duperre until June 1954.