Indomito-class destroyer
The Indomito class was a class of destroyers of the Italian Royal Navy before and during World War I. Eight were built, six of which at Naples by Societa Pattison, between 1910 and 1913. They were the first large Italian destroyers and the first fitted with steam turbines. The class is sometimes also called the I class. Two of the class were sunk during World War I, but the four surviving ships remained in service until 1937–38. One of the class,, was reinstated during World War II and served in the Règia Marina and the German Kriegsmarine before being sunk by U.S. aircraft in late 1944.
Design and construction
The Indomito class was designed by Luigi Scaglia of Societa Pattison of Naples. The boats were the first large destroyers of the Règia Marina and the first fitted with steam turbines. The Indomito class were the first in the progression of Italian destroyers to be called either tre pipe or tre canne for their three funnels.The ships were at the waterline with a beam of and a draft of. They had twin shafts driven by two Tosi steam turbines that were fired by four Thornycroft boilers. The drivetrain was designed for a power output of to move the ships at, but had a maximum output of which propelled the ships at.
As built, the ships were armed with one /40 gun, four /40 guns, and two torpedo tubes. In 1914 they were augmented with an additional two torpedo tubes. During World War I, guide rails for laying up to ten mines were added to the ships. Later wartime changes replaced all the guns with five /35 and a single /39 AA gun. Oil capacity was also increased during the war from to in order to increase endurance, but the increased weight had the opposite effect: slowing the ships and reduced their endurance.