Maestrale-class destroyer

The Maestrale class were a group of destroyers built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) and served in World War II. They formed the basis for subsequent Italian destroyer designs; the Oriani-class destroyer and Soldati-class destroyeres.

Design and description
The Maestrale-class destroyers were a completely new design intended to rectify the stability problems of the preceding Folgore-class destroyer. They had a length between perpendiculars of 101.6 m and an overall length of 106.7 m. The ships had a beam of 10.15 m and a mean draft of 3.31 m and 4.3 m at deep load. They displaced 1640 t at normal load, and 2243 t at deep load. Their complement during wartime was 190 officers and enlisted men.

The Maestrales were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by a trio of three-drum boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 44000 shp and a speed of 32 - 33 kn in service, although they reached speeds of 38 - 39 kn during their sea trials while lightly loaded. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 2600 - 2800 nmi at a speed of 18 kn and 690 nmi at a speed of 33 kn.

Their main battery consisted of four 50-caliber 120 mm guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. Amidships were a pair of 15-caliber 120-millimeter star shell guns. Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the Maestrale-class ships was provided by four 13.2 mm machine guns. They were equipped with six 533 mm torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships. Although the ships were not provided with a sonar system for anti-submarine work, they were fitted with a pair of depth charge throwers. The Maestrales could carry 56 mines.

Ships

 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Maestrale (North-West wind)
 * Built by CT Riva Trigoso,
 * completed 2 September 1934.
 * Damaged by a mine on 9 January 1943, she was scuttled on 9 September 1943 during the Italian Armistice while being repaired in Genoa.


 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Grecale (North-East wind)
 * Built by CNR Ancona,
 * completed 15 November 1934.
 * She survived the war and served in the Marina Militare until 1964.


 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Libeccio (South-West wind)
 * Built by CNR Ancona,
 * Laid down 29 Sep 1931
 * Launched 4 July 1934
 * completed 23 November 1934.
 * She was sunk on 9 November 1941 by the British submarine HMS Upholder (P37).


 * ITALIAN DESTROYER Scirocco (South-East wind)
 * Built by CT Riva Trigoso,
 * Completed 21 October 1934.
 * Sunk in a storm following the Second Battle of Sirte on 23 March 1942, with only two survivors among the 236-strong crew.