RN Turbine
Contents
Description
The Turbine-class, RN Turbine, 1927 is a rank I Italian destroyer with a battle rating of 3.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters".
General info
Survivability and armour
The RN Turbine is the second smallest ship at its battle rating with a hull length of 91 meters compared to 93 meters for the Leopard 1924 or 98 meters for the Soviet Frunze.
The hull is lined with 16mm steel, in combination with Turbine's small stature creates a perfect combination of a tough and small ship, perfect for dueling enemy foes.
Her crew consists of 179 sailors which makes her the top vessel with the most members at her Battle rating. In second place is the Frunze with 168 members and in third place is the USS Barker (DD-213) with 150 sailors .
These ships mentioned above will be the most present along with the Leopard 1924 in battle. The advantage is that all three have one thing in common, they all have little protection on the main hold.
The Barker and Leopard are the most vulnerable because right next to the hold they have the main fuel tank, something the Frunze does not have.
Unfortunately, the RN Turbine also suffers from this small but important problem, because during combat the front of the ship is one of the most vulnerable. To remedy this flaw, it is recommended to angle the ship slightly to the left or right (To keep the profile of the ship smaller) in the direction of enemy fire, so enemy projectiles do not find a flat surface to penetrate and blow up the main hold, knocking the ship out of battle!
Mobility
The RN Turbine is equipped with 2 powerful turbines that deliver a power of 40'000 horses that take it to 36 knots (66 km/h). Its draught of only 3 meters makes it very agile even at maximum speed. Its rudder can turn from left to right and vice versa in just 5 seconds.
The advantage of being small and wide increases the stability of the ship even in case of a sudden turn. The RN Turbine once it reaches maximum speed, She is able to stop completely in 32 seconds and its maximum speed in reverse is -14 knots (-26 km/h). {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="6" | Mobility Characteristics |- ! rowspan="2" | Game Mode ! rowspan="2" | Upgrade Status ! colspan="2" | Maximum Speed (km/h) ! rowspan="2" | Turn Time (s) ! rowspan="2" | Turn Radius (m) |- ! Forward ! Reverse |- | rowspan="2" | AB | | Stock | | 82 | | 32 | | ~58.77 | | ~113.02 |- | Upgraded || 82 || 32 | | ___ | | ___ |- | rowspan="2" | RB/SB | | Stock | | 67 | | 26 | | ~78.97 | | ~164.08 |- | Upgraded || 67 || 26 | | ___ | | ___ |- |}
Modifications and economy
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Armament
Primary armament
First produced by Ansaldo in 1926, this gun was continually modified during the 1930s by both Ansaldo and Odero-Terni-Orlando (OTO).
The 120 mm/45 O.T.O. Mod. 1926 (120 mm) in the double mounts suffered from excessive dispersion which seems to be the result of mounting the barrels too close together. On later destroyers, a single 120 mm/50 (4.7") mount was used to replace the obsolete 120 mm/15 (4.7") star howitzers, thus improving the ship's firepower.
In combat this type of weapon is very strong at its battle rating, as the ammunition it can offer are: HE , APHE , HE-TF.
The speed of the rounds are 850 m/s and are fired with a frequency of 8.2 seconds. HE and HE-TF have an explosive mass of 2.39kg and APHE 1.16kg.
The HEs which the RN Turbine can use are currently the most explosive, the Frunze only has 2.1kg, the Leopard 1924 has 2kg, the Mutsuki 1.86kg, the Litchfield 1.23kg and the Town L45 with only 721g. The great velocity of it’s rounds guarantees an almighty success in long distance fights.
Secondary armament
Introduced into the Royal Navy in March 1915 as a large caliber MG AA. These guns used 25-round fabric belts, which are used only in single mounts. Britain produced a total of 795 cannons of which 577 were still available in 1939.
The original Mark II design was prone to many defects and the Mark II* was a modified version that improved reliability.
Stoppages and jams were still common in these models as the bullets slipped out of their mounts and the fabric belts which carried them often tore. The Mark II*C was another modification that used a 14-shot steel-link belt instead of the fabric belt. These steel-mesh belts were also used on the later 2-pdr. Mark VIIIs.
About 50 of these guns were sold to the Italian Navy. They were then manufactured under license by Terni (Italy) until the early 1930s. The Terni version used a 50-round ammunition box.
The Aquilone is equipped with no less than three 40mm/39 Vickers-Terni mod.1915/1917 guns, 2 in the center and 1 in the rear of the ship.
This positioning guarantees complete aerial coverage within a radius of 1.1km. Unfortunately, their short range limits the air defense of the ship, but as soon as an air target enters the maximum effective range of these anti-aircraft guns, i.e. 800 meters, the aircraft will be instantly neutralized by the HE-TF rounds which use 31g of explosive.
Additional armament
The RN Turbine is equipped with 6 torpedoes S.I. 250/533,4X7,5 Type A (533 mm) and 52 Bollo P.125/1932 mines.
The torpedo launchers are arranged in a linear fashion in the central part of the ship and have a range of 180 degrees on both sides of the ship.
The torpedoes without the improved torpedo modification have a range of 4 km and travel at 76 km/h, while with the modification installed the torpedoes increase the range to 12 km, however their speed is reduced to 48 km/h.
These torpedoes have a mass of 1781 kg and inside they contain 250 kg of explosives. After their launch, they need 50 meters to arm themselves and become completely destructive.
The 52 mines are placed in the rear of the ships carried on rails that start from the middle of the ship and go all the way to the stern.
The mines in question have a mass of 221 kg of which 125 kg of explosives alone, once released into the sea these mines will stay stationary to float and will not detonate until a ship goes very close.
Usage in battles
The RN Turbine at its battle level has a good armament composed of 4 120 mm/45 O.T.O. Mod. 1926, which can cause a lot of damage to enemy ships. HE can destroy enemy ships with one shot, APHE projectiles can cause massive damage and destroy enemy ships such as destroyers in a few shots, targeting their unarmored or weakly protected areas.
Using the main armament as if it were anti-aircraft you can use the HE-FT according to the distance calculated by the crew of the ship these shots explode near the aerial target causing its destruction or severe critical damage. The only problem with the main guns is the reload time of 8.5 seconds. The ship has only 3 anti-aircraft guns (40mm/39 Vickers-Terni mod. 1915 /1917) which are very powerful but their range is so low that consequently reduces their effectiveness.
The RN Turbine is the smallest reserve of all the blue ship reserves in the game. The ship has good speed and maneuverability which makes it capable of dodging enemy torpedoes. The ship can also carry mines and torpedoes, mines are deadly and can cause severe damage to destroyers making them sink very fast, while torpedoes can be modified with torpedo mode. From stock the torpedoes reach a distance of 4 km and have a speed of 76 km/h while if you use the torpedo mode modification they become much slower (48 km/h), while the distance is increased to 12 km.
The RN Turbine must be used as a support ship or for side attacks; its cannons fire slowly but cause serious damage to enemy ships. We do not recommend going to the front lines because enemies have the ability to easily destroy the RN Turbine with a single well-placed shot between the main hold and the tank. The ship is also very small so it is a difficult target to hit, especially over long distances.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Largest naval mine payload at its rank
- Large calibre guns
- Good Primary Armament (120 mm/45 O.T.O. Mod. 1926).
- Good choice of ammunitions for primary armament (APHE, HE, HE-FT).
- Good Survivability (179 of crew).
- Good Speed (67 km/h).
- Good Maneuverability (circa 45 seconds for a complete circle).
- Good Torpedoes Range 12 km with torpedo mode modification.
- Good Velocity Torpedoes (76 km/h) without Torpedo mode modification.
Cons:
- The main cannons reload is long
- Lacks protection
- Slow turn rate of AA guns with 40 mm/39 Vickers-Terni mod.1915/1917.
- Short Range AA guns with 40 mm/39 Vickers-Terni mod.1915/1917.
- The ammo rack can explode easily when hit, causing the ship to explode!
- Slow reload for the primary armament it reloads in 8,5 seconds
- Slow Torpedoes, only 48 km/h of speed with torpedo mode modification.
- Very short range torpedoes (4 km) without torpedo mode modification.
- Carrying mines, if the ship is hit in the mine they will do an ammo rack explosion on the ship resulting in the total destruction of the RN Turbine.
History
Turbine class
The Turbine class comprised 8 destroyers with wind names (Turbine, Borea, Nembo, Aquilone, Euro, Espero, Zeffiro and Ostro). It was one of the first classes of military ships after the First World War. This class succeeded fairly well, they had 2 twin turrets with 120 mm/45 O.T.O. Mod. 1926 guns with 6 torpedoes of auxiliary armament.
They fought in the war, but suffered 6 losses already in 1940 and the other 2 sank after the armistice of 8 September.
The Turbine Class ships presented characteristics that can be defined as intermediate between the ships of the first post-war period and those of the 1930s. They were launched in the two-year period 1927-28, and compared to their predecessors had a hull lengthened by 3 meters, so as to be able to accommodate a propulsion apparatus of 10% more powerful.
The propulsion apparatus was given by 2 groups of steam turbines on 2 axles, each on a funnel of different sizes (larger the front) with the modest power of 40. The torpedo launchers were 2 triples of 533 mm, there were also depth charges and, similarly to the other ships of the category in service in the Regia Marina, there were up to 50 mines for fast mine actions.
The main armament was based on 2 twin towers of 120 mm/45 O.T.O. Mod. 1926 cannons.The twin cannons allowed for a much more compact design of the ships than 4 single installations, and certainly also contributed to the aesthetic harmony of the design, more compact and powerful, but the cannons very close together interfered with each other during fire, causing a dispersion of fire that haunted the naval engineers throughout the war.
Turbine class ships:
In the initial construction
RN Turbine (1927)
RN Borea (1927)
RN Nembo (1927)
RN Euro (1927)
RN Espero (1928)
RN Zeffiro (1928)
RN Ostro (1928)
RN Turbine History:
Entry into service 27 August 1927
In 1932 it was among the first units of the Regia Marina to receive a firing control unit of the "Galileo-Bergamini" type, designed by the then Captain Carlo Bergamini.
In 1934 it was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea, together with its twin RN Nembo.
It took part in the Spanish Civil War to contrast the smuggling of supplies for the Spanish republican troops: during these operations, on August 30, 1937, it torpedoed and sank off Tigzirt (Algerian coast), with the help of its twin RN Ostro, the Soviet steamship Tymiryazev (3226 grt), sailing from Cardiff to Porto Said. A lifeboat with survivors of the merchantman was towed to Dellys (Algeria) by Algerian units.
At the entrance of Italy in the Second World War it composed, together with its twins RN Euro, RN Nembo and RN Aquilone, the I Destroyer Squadron based in Tobruk.
In the night between 13 and 14 June 1940 the RB Turbine and the destroyer RN Strale, carried out an anti-submarine hunting mission in the Gulf of Taranto (during which the RN Strale damaged the British submarine Odin, then finished by the destroyer RN Baleno).
On 19 June the RN Turbine sank with depth charges, in position 32°30' N and 24°00' E (about 25 miles north of Tobruk), the British submarine Orpheus; there were no survivors of the British unit.
In the night between 16 and 17 September 1940 the RN Turbine was moored next to the twin RN Aquilone at the Main Pier of the port of Benghazi, when the latter was bombed by nine aircraft of the 815th Squadron launched from the aircraft carrier Illustrious: in this attack the destroyer RN Borea and the steamers Maria Eugenia and Gloriastella were sunk.
Some other units were damaged and among them, in a not serious way, the RN Turbine: the destroyer was hit in correspondence of the aft telemetry turret by two big pieces of shrapnel projected by the explosions in progress on Maria Eugenia; the result was the disablement of the stern firing direction equipment and the wounding of 6 men.
The next day RN Turbine and RN Aquilone received orders to move to Tripoli and sailed at 20:15 direct to that base, but half an hour later RN Aquilone hit two mines and began to sink.
Initially it was not understood what had provoked the explosions and, fearing another attack from the sky, the Turbine accelerated and began to zigzag, and then tried to contact its twin unit, from which there was no answer; before the RN Turbine could reverse course, it was ordered to continue to Tripoli to avoid that it would hit some ordnance in its turn (means left from Benghazi recovered all the crew of the RN Aquilone with the exception of 13 men)].
Between the 3rd and the 5th of August 1942 it escorted a convoy composed by the motorboats Ankara, Nino Bixio and Sestriere (with destination Tobruk for the first one and Benghazi for the other two; the cargo consisted of 92 tanks, 340 vehicles, 3 locomotives, a crane, 292 soldiers, 4.381 tons of fuel and lubricating oils, 5. 256 tons of other supplies), together with the destroyers Corsair, Legionnaire, Thunderbolt, Grecale and Lightning, as well as the torpedo boats Partenope and Calliope; the ships reached their destination in spite of numerous air attacks; on that occasion there was also the first attack conducted by American aircraft against Italian units (it was an attack by Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers).
In the last phase of the war it was employed in the Aegean.
At the proclamation of the armistice the RN Turbine was in Piraeus. The crew initially rejoiced at the news, thinking that the ship would return home; while the crews of two tugboats came on board asking to be allowed to return to Italy with the RN Turbine, the order was given to put the boilers under pressure.
At nine o'clock in the evening the commander of the destroyer, temporarily absent for shore engagements, returned aboard the ship, while the initial jubilation was replaced by concern: the connections between the RN Turbine and the other ships had failed, and the crew was sent to battle stations, while the ship was positioned in the channel leading to the port.
A few minutes after midnight, the commander of the German minelayer Drache came aboard the RN Turbine and explained that the Italian destroyer was under fire from German 150 mm coastal batteries, which would open fire if the unit attempted to leave; in addition, the Drache had just laid a new minefield outside the harbor.
Moreover, even if the destroyer had managed to get away unscathed, it would have been attacked by Luftwaffe aircraft stationed in Athens as the sun rose. At dawn, having ascertained the truth of this fact, the crew prepared to self-sink the ship, while the commander went ashore; at ten o'clock in the morning the order to turn off the boilers was received, while at 11:20 the commander returned aboard the RN Turbine and explained that the command of the Italian troops in Greece had ordered to deliver the ship intact to the Kriegsmarine.
On September 9, 1943 the ship was delivered intact by its crew to the German troops; some members of the crew opted to remain on board and continue to fight with the Germans, while most of the staff, after having disembarked on the promise of a safe return to Italy, was sent to prison camps in Germany and Poland.
Incorporated into the Kriegsmarine, the RN Turbine assumed the new name TA 14.
After work in which other 20 mm machine guns, the ship was assigned to the 9th Torpedo Flotilla and took part in the occupation of Rhodes at the end of 1943, and then was employed in the Aegean with escort duties.
On 1 February 1944 it was hit with rockets and damaged by British aircraft. Repaired at Salamina, it briefly resumed escort duty. On June 19, while in Portolago (Leros), it was again damaged by explosive charges placed by British raiders.
On September 16, 1944, while in Salamina for repairs, it was hit by bombs and sunk during an American aerial bombardment.
Since the entry into service of the RN Turbine, in the long convoy war 1940-1943, in addition to the sinking of the Orpheus, five enemy torpedo bombers were shot down.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
https://wiki.warthunder.com/RN_Aquilone
https://wiki.warthunder.com/Dardo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt6JJt5uYgs
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the ship;
- other literature.
| Italy destroyers | |
|---|---|
| Regia Marina | |
| Aquila-class | RN Aquila |
| Leone-class | RN Leone · RN Tigre |
| Turbine-class | RN Aquilone · RN Turbine |
| Navigatori-class | RN Da Verazzano |
| Dardo-class | RN Dardo |
| Soldati-class | RN Aviere · RN Corazziere · RN Geniere |
| Comandanti Medaglie d'Oro-class | RN Comandante Margottini |
| Marina Militare | |
| Fante-class* | Geniere |
| Indomito-class | Impetuoso |
| * Modified Fletcher-class destroyers | |
