Curtatone-class destroyer
The Curtatone class were a group of destroyers built for the Royal Italian Navy.
Development and design
During the First World War, the Regia Marina required additional surface escorts to guard against attacks by the Austro-Hungarian Navy and German U-boats in the Mediterranean. Of the 32 destroyers ordered as part of the effort, 20 of them were not laid down during the war due to supply shortages. Included were the Palestro-class destroyers, which were launched in 1919 and 1920. The four ships of the Palestro-class were based on the earlier Audace-class destroyer and was intended to comprise eight destroyers. However, experience with Palestro saw the design for the last four ships lengthened by in an attempt to achieve higher speeds. The lengthened ships were given a new armament and became known as the Curtatone-class.The ships that became the Curtatone-class was ordered on 31 December 1915 as part of the Palestro-class. They were long at the waterline and long overall, with a beam of and a mean draft of. They displaced standard and up to at full load with a crew of 6 to 7 officers and about 110 enlisted men. The ships were powered by two Zoelly steam turbines, with steam provided by four Thornycroft boilers. The engines were rated to produce for a top speed of with a bunkerage of of coal. The ships could cruise for at an economical speed of or at. The Italian government paid shipyards a bonus if their warships exceeded the speed requirement. As a result, the shipyards ran sea trials on new ships without armament and other equipment to achieve an unrealistically high speed. The top speed of each ship in the class was between.
Italian naval doctrine emphasized rangefinders and powerful guns to destroy the enemy at long range, compared to other nations which focused on a destroyer's torpedoes and escort ability. The class's main armament was two M1919 guns mounted in twin turrets on the centerline fore and aft. They were the first destroyers in the world to be fitted with twin guns as a predecessor to the mass adoption of twin guns throughout the Italian destroyer fleet. In addition, the ships were equipped with two triple torpedo tubes, two anti-aircraft guns, and 16 mines. Almost all Italian destroyers of the era were equipped for minelaying and used to create defensive minefields around the country.
Ships in class
All four ships were built by Orlando yard in Livorno.| Ship | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Service/Fate |
| Calatafimi | 1 December 1920 | 17 March 1923 | 24 May 1924 | Captured by the Germans at Piraeus on 9 September 1943 - served as TA19, sunk by Greek submarine Pipinos 19 August 1944 in the Aegean Sea. |
| Castelfidardo | 20 July 1920 | 4 June 1922 | 7 March 1924 | Captured by the Germans at Piraeus on 9 September 1943 - served as TA16, sunk by Allied aircraft 2 June 1944 in the Aegean. |
| Curtatone | 3 January 1920 | 17 March 1922 | 21 June 1923 | Sunk by a mine near Athens on 20 May 1941. |
| Monzambano | 20 January 1921 | 6 August 1923 | 4 June 1923 | Survived the war. It was decommissioned in April 1951. |