Italian destroyer Ascaro

Ascaro ("Askari") was a Soldato-class destroyer ("Soldier"-class) destroyer of the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy"). Commissioned in 1913, she served during World War I. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1921, she was stricken in 1930.

Design, construction, and commissioning
Ascaro originated as Tsing Po (or Ching Po), a destroyer based on the Italian Soldato class that the Chinese Empire ordered in 1910 for the Imperial Chinese Navy. Tsing Po differed from the other destroyers of her class in having a unique mixed-fuel propulsion system, with one coal-fired boiler and two oil-fired ones. Her armament also differed: While the other Soldato-class ships had four 76 mm/40 calibre guns, Tsing Po was to have a mixed armament of two 76 mm/40 calibre and four 47 mm (1.9) guns in addition to three 450 mm torpedo tubes.

The eleventh and last Soldato-class ship to be constructed, Tsing Po was laid down in 1911 at the Gio. Ansaldo & C. shipyard in Genoa, Italy, a year after the completion of all the other units of the class. While she was on the building ways, the Kingdom of Italy purchased her in 1912 for service in the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") Renamed Ascaro, she was launched on 6 December 1912 and completed on 21 July 1913. She was commissioned in July 1913.

As completed, Ascaro was powered by two sets of triple expansion steam engines fed by three Thornycroft water-tube boilers, producing an estimated 6,000 ihp and driving two propeller shafts. She could reach a maximum speed of 28.5 kn. Uniquely among the Soldato-class ships, she retained her mixed-fuel propulsion system, which gave her a range comparable to that of the other ships of her class, 1,500 nmi at 12 kn. The Italians abandoned the gun armament the Chinese envisioned for her, and instead fitted her with the same armament as the rest of the Soldato class, i.e., four 76 mm/40 calibre guns and three 450 mm torpedo tubes.

Service history
World War I broke out in 1914, and Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies with its declaration of war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915. At the time, Ascaro, under the command of Capitano di corvetta (Corvette Captain) Baistrocchi, was part of the 4th Destroyer Squadron, based at Brindisi, which also included her sister ships ITALIAN DESTROYER Alpino, ITALIAN DESTROYER Carabiniere, ITALIAN DESTROYER Fuciliere, and ITALIAN DESTROYER Pontiere and the destroyer ITALIAN DESTROYER Zeffiro.

In October 1916 Ascaro, the destroyers ITALIAN DESTROYER Borea, ITALIAN DESTROYER Garibaldino, and ITALIAN DESTROYER Nembo and four torpedo boats provided protection and support to a landing force consisting of the armored cruiser ITALIAN CRUISER Francesco Ferruccio and the steamers Ausonia, SS Bulgaria (Italian steamer), SS Choising, and SS Polcevera sent to occupy Sarandë (known to the Italians as Santi Quaranta), in the Principality of Albania. At 05:15 on 2 October 1916, four platoons of sailors, a unit of miners, and a unit of personnel from Francesco Ferruccio landed on the beach and quickly occupied the area, the 32 members of the Greek garrison at Sarandë having no option other than to retreat after protesting the Italian operation. After disembarking an infantry battalion and a cavalry squadron, the steamers departed at 16:00 on 2 October for Vlorë, where they embarked more troops. On 3 October, Ausonia and Polcevera landed a pack artillery battery and a second cavalry squadron, and on 4 October the operation was completed when Bulgaria and Choising put another infantry battalion and a third cavalry squadron ashore.

Ascaro continued her war service but did not participate in any other significant operations during the war. By late October 1918, Austria-Hungary had effectively disintegrated, and the Armistice of Villa Giusti, signed on 3 November 1918, went into effect on 4 November 1918 and brought hostilities between Austria-Hungary and the Allies to an end. World War I ended a week later with an armistice between the Allies and the German Empire on 11 November 1918.

Post-World War I
Ascaro was reclassified as a torpedo boat on 1 July 1921. She was stricken from the naval register on 31 May 1930. She subsequently was scrapped.