Turbine class destroyer - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Turbine class was a class 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

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

Regia Marina

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

in the late 1920s. They were essentially larger versions of the earlier .

Turbine class ships

Aquilone -

Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente.

Completed 3 December 1927.

Sunk by aircraft from HMS Illustrious in Benghazi

Benghazi

Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...

harbor on 17 September 1940.

Borea -

Built by Ansaldo, Genoa.

Completed 14 November 1927.

Sunk by aircraft from HMS Illustrious in Benghazi harbor on 17 September 1940.

Espero -

Built by Ansaldo, Genoa.

Completed 30 April 1928.

Sunk by HMAS Sydney off Tobruk

Tobruk

Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....

on 28 June 1940 during a convoy to Libya

Battle of the Espero Convoy

The Battle of the Espero Convoy was the first Second World War surface engagement between Italian and Allied warships. It took place southwest of Crete on 28 June 1940, after a force of seven cruisers and 16 destroyers, preparing to escort three Allied convoys to Alexandria, were informed of the...

Euro -

Built by CT Riva Trigoso.

Launched on 7 July 1927 and completed on 22 December 1927.

Sunk by German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

off Leros Island, Greece on 1 October 1943.

Nembo -

Built by CT Riva Trigoso.

Completed on 14 November 1927.

Sunk by aircraft from HMS Eagle

HMS Eagle (1918)

HMS Eagle was an early aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. Ordered by Chile as the Almirante Cochrane, she was laid down before World War I. In early 1918 she was purchased by Britain for conversion to an aircraft carrier; this work was finished in 1924...

in the Gulf of Bomba

Gulf of Bomba

The Gulf of Bomba is a gulf on the coast of Libya....

on 20 July 1940.

Ostro -

Built by Ansaldo, Genoa.

Completed on 9 June 1928.

Sunk by aircraft from HMS Eagle in the Gulf of Bomba on 20 July 1940.

Turbine -

Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente.

Completed 27 August 1927.

Seized by the Germans 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...

, Served in the Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

as the TA14.

Sunk by rockets fired by USAAF aircraft in Salamis

Salamis Island

Salamis , is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about 1 nautical mile off-coast from Piraeus and about 16 km west of Athens. The chief city, Salamina , lies in the west-facing core of the crescent on Salamis Bay, which opens into the Saronic Gulf...

on 16 September 1944.

Zeffiro -

Built by Ansaldo, Genoa.

Completed 15 May 1928.

Sunk by aircraft from HMS Eagle in Tobruk on 5 July 1940.

History

During the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, the Italian Navy supported the Spanish Nationalists not only by assisting them with war supplies, but also through undercover operations against enemy shipping. In the course of these missions, the destroyer Ostro torpedoed and sank the Spanish Republican freighter Conde de Abasolo on 13 August 1937, while the Turbine sent to the botttom by the same means the Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

Tymiryazev on 30 August, both of them off Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

.

At the beginning of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, when Italy

Italy

declared war against Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, all eight ships of the Turbine class were based in Tobruk, Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

. They were tasked with mine laying duties and running supplies between Tobruk and Taranto

Taranto

Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....

. On 16 June 1940, Turbine sank the British submarine just off Tobruk.

Turbine, Aquilone and Nembo took part in the shelling of Sollum on 14 June 1940. They repeated this action on 26 June.

On 28 June 1940, Espero, Ostro and Zeffiro were in convoy, heavily loaded down with cargo, when they were intercepted by a British task force of five ships. In the ensuing battle

Battle of the Espero Convoy

, sank the Espero as it lagged behind to allow the other two destroyers to reach Tobruk safely.

On 5 July 1940, British aircraft carrier launched an attack on Tobruk harbor. Its Fairey Swordfish

Fairey Swordfish

The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...

torpedo bombers sank the Zeffiro, and severely damaged the Euro. Later that month, on 20 July, another Swordfish from HMS Eagle spotted the Nembo and Ostro in the Gulf of Bomba and sank them both with torpedoes. On 17 September of the same year, Swordfish from attacked Benghazi

Benghazi

harbor where Aquilone and Borea were berthed, and both were sunk. Euro was part of the escort of the ill-fated Duisburg convoy

Battle of the Duisburg Convoy

The Battle of the Duisburg Convoy was fought on the night of 8–9 November 1941 between an Italian convoy sailing to Libya with supplies for the Italian Army, civilian authorities in Libya, and the Afrika Corps and a British Naval squadron which intercepted it...

, when her commander lost the opportunity of torpedoing the cruiser HMS Aurora

HMS Aurora (12)

HMS Aurora was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard , with the keel being laid down on the 27 July 1935. She was launched on the 20 August 1936, and commissioned 12 November 1937....

due to an error of identification. On 3 July 1942, while escorting three freighters from Taranto

Taranto

Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base....

to Benghazi

Benghazi

along with the Navigatori class destroyer

Navigatori class destroyer

The Navigatori class were a group of Italian destroyers built in 1928-29. These ships were named after Italian explorers. They fought in World War II. Just one unit, the Nicoloso Da Recco, survived the conflict.-Design:...

Da Verrazzano, Euro and Turbine shot down two Beaufort

Bristol Beaufort

The Bristol Beaufort was a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber....

bombers.

After the Italian armistice in September 1943, Euro was assigned to the allied fleet and was later sunk by German

Germany

Junkers Ju 87

The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...

"Stuka" dive bombers off Leros

Leros

Leros is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies 317 km from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 11-hour ferry ride . Leros is part of the Kalymnos peripheral unit...

Island, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Turbine was seized by the German Navy

Kriegsmarine

and put into service in the Aegean Sea

Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

as a torpedo boat. On 19 June 1944, at Porto Lago

Lagos, Greece

Lagos is a settlement in the Xanthi peripheral unit of Greece. It is part of the community Nea Kessani. It is situated on the bar separating Lake Vistonida from the Aegean Sea. In 1991, the settlement contained 371 inhabitants.-External links:**...

, she was badly damaged by an explosion, which was thought to have been sabotage. She set in to the port of Salamis

Salamis Island

for repairs, but a US air strike on the port on 16 September sunk her before they could be entirely completed.

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