Italian destroyer Benedetto Cairoli

Benedetto Cairoli was an Italian La Masa-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") in 1918. She served in World War I, participating in the Adriatic campaign. Only a little more than two months after entering service, she sank after a collision.

Construction and commissioning
Benedetto Cairoli was laid down at the Cantieri navali Odero (Odero Shipyard) in Sestri Ponente, Italy, on 1 September 1916. She was launched on 28 December 1917 and completed and commissioned on 3 February 1918.

World War I
Benedetto Cairoli entered service in time to take part in the final year of World War I. She was assigned to the 4th Destroyer Squadron at Brindisi, Italy, and served in the Adriatic campaign.

On the night of 9–10 April 1918 Benedetto Cairoli was part of a force of several Italian and French Navy destroyers escorting the three battleships of the Italian 2nd Naval Division from Brindisi to Taranto, Italy. During the predawn hours of 10 April, two of the French destroyers, FRENCH DESTROYER Faulx and FRENCH DESTROYER Mangini, collided in the Strait of Otranto and Faulx sank. About an hour later, after the ships entered the Ionian Sea, Benedetto Cairoli′s sister ship ITALIAN DESTROYER Giacinto Carini accidentally rammed her, and Benedetto Cairoli sank a few hours later off Santa Maria di Leuca, Italy. The Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Torrens (D67) rescued her survivors, but one member of Torrens′s crew was swept overboard and drowned in heavy seas during the rescue operation. Meanwhile, Giacinto Carini reached port with a severely damaged bow and remained under repair for the rest of World War I.