Soldati (Family)

Description

The Soldati-class were a group of 19 destroyers built for the Regia Marina.

Vehicles

Rank III

• RN Aviere - 1° Serie, 1940
• RN Geniere - 1° Serie, 1942
• RN Corazziere - 1° Serie, 1943

History

The Soldati-class destroyers brought to completion a series of attempts by the Regia Marina to build a type of destroyer that would be valid to operate together with battleships and cruisers in missions to counter adversary naval forces, and also to act jointly with the fast torpedo boats of the Spica-class in night torpedoing actions in the restricted waters of the Sicilian Channel.

The Regia Marina during the 1930s tried in various ways to create a more efficient class of destroyers than those already in service, and there were several attempts.

The first attempts were made in 1929 with the setting of the Freccia-class destroyers, which, although they were a step forward in comparison with the Turbine-class destroyers (especially from the point of view of autonomy and maneuverability) did not give the desired results, since they had to be made considerably heavier in the dead work to improve their lateral stability and seaworthiness.

In 1931 four Maestrale-class destroyers were set, which took the general characteristics of the Freccia-class, eliminated most of the defects of the previous class, resulting in a destroyer with satisfactory characteristics for the Regia Marina.

The most pronounced feature of these destroyers was their high speed, which, at trials, with light displacement, far exceeded 38 knots contracted to touch 41.3 knots with the RN Libeccio.

However, in practice, this speed proved to be entirely fictitious, as the Maestrale-class, with operating displacements on the 2,000-ton mark, failed to make more than 36 knots, and even in war, after the installation of new equipment and weapons, they did not exceed 32 knots.

Between 1935 and 1936, construction began on the 4 units of the Oriani-class, almost complete replicas of the Maestrale-class, but with greater installed power that enabled them not to register the marked decreases in speed of the previous class under practical operating conditions.

In 1937, the first 12 units of the Soldati-class were laid down, partly replicating the names of destroyers of 1905.

The first 12 units are Soldati-class 1°Serie.

Ship name	Builder	Setting	Launch	Entry in service	Final Destiny
RN Alpino	CNR Ancona	2 May 1937	18 September 1938	20 April 1939	9 April 1943	Sank from an aerial bombardment
RN Fuciliere	CNR Ancona	2 May 1937	31 July 1938	10 January 1939	31 January 1950	Disbarred and gave to the USSR, demolished in 1960
RN Granatiere	CNR Palermo	5 April 1937	24 April 1938	1 February 1939	1 July 1958	Disbarred and demolished in 1960
RN Bersagliere	CNR Palermo	21 April 1937	3 July 1938	1 April 1939	7 January 1943	Sank from an aerial bombardment
RN Carabiniere	CNR Riva Trigoso	1 February 1937	23 July 1938	20 December 1938	17 January 1965	Sank in March 1978 and demolished
RN Lanciere	CNR Riva Trigoso	1 February 1937	18 December 1938	25 March 1939	23 March 1942	Sank in a storm
RN Camicia Nera	OTO Livorno	21 January 1937	8 August 1937	30 June 1938	23 January 1949	Disbarred and given to the USSR, demolished in 1960
RN Aviere	OTO Livorno	16 January 1937	19 September 1937	31 August 1938	17 December 1942	Sank by HMS Splendid
RN Artigliere	OTO Livorno	15 February 1937	12 December 1937	14 November 1938	2 October 1940	Sank in combat
RN Geniere	OTO Livorno	26 August 1937	27 February 1938	15 December 1938	1 March 1943	Sank from an aerial bombardment, recovered and sank during towing in 1944
RN Corazziere	OTO Livorno	7 October 1937	22 May 1938	4 March 1939	9 September 1943 - 4 September 1944	Self-sank, recovered, sunk by air attack and demolished in 1953
RN Ascari	OTO Livorno	11 December 1937	31 July 1938	6 May 1939	24 March 1943	Sunk by mines

All 1°Serie Soldier-class destroyers were delivered between June 1938 and the last Soldati-class (RN Ascari) in May 1939. After the outbreak of the conflict, it was decided to build a second series of seven units, bringing the overall total to 19.

The last 7 units are Soldati-class 2°Serie

• Mitragliere (16),
• Bombardiere (21), from the Cantieri Navali Riuniti of Ancona;
• Legionario (16,
• Corsaro (16),
• Velite (16),
• Carrista,
• Squadrista, from the OTO of Livorno.

The RN Carrista was never launched, as she had to give up her stern to the RN Velite and her bow to the RN Carabiniere, both of which were torpedoed by British submarines. The RN Squadrista, on the other hand, was in the process of being outfitted when, after the armistice, it was captured by the Germans who towed it to Genoa, but still failed to complete it because it was sunk during an Allied air raid. The remaining five units entered service between February (Mitragliere) and August (Velite) 1942.