Italian destroyer Baleno
Baleno was one of four s built for the Regia Marina in the early 1930s. Completed in 1932, she served in World War II.
Design and description
The Folgore-class destroyers were essentially copies of the preceding, although their beam was reduced in an unsuccessful attempt to improve their speed over that achieved by the earlier ships. The Folgores had an overall length of, a beam of and a mean draft of and at deep load. They displaced at standard load, and at deep load. Their complement during wartime was 185 officers and enlisted men.The Folgores were powered by two Belluzzo geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by three Thornycroft boilers. The turbines were designed to produce and a speed of in service, although the ships reached speeds of during their sea trials while lightly loaded. They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at a speed of.
Their main battery consisted of four [120 mm Italian naval gun#50-calibre Ansaldo 1926|] guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the Folgore-class ships was provided by a pair of [QF 2 pounder naval gun|] AA guns in single mounts amidships and a pair of twin-gun mounts for machine guns. They were equipped with six 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 Folgores could carry 52 mines.