Sauro-class destroyer

The Sauro class were a group of four destroyers built for the Regia Marina in the late 1920s. They were based in the Red Sea Italian colony of Eritrea and all fought in World War II being sunk during the East African Campaign in 1941.

Design and description

The Sauro-class destroyers were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding. They had an overall length of, a beam of and a mean draft of. They displaced at standard load, and at deep load. Their complement was 8–10 officers and 146 enlisted men.
The Sauros were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by three Yarrow boilers. The turbines were rated at for a speed of in service, although the ships reached speeds in excess 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|] guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the Sauro-class ships was provided by a pair of [QF 2 pounder naval gun|] AA guns in single mounts amidships and a pair of machine guns. They were equipped with six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships. The Sauros could also carry 52 mines.

Ships

These ships formed the 3rd Squadrilla and were based in the Red Sea.

Ship name	Namesake	Builder	Completed	Fate
	Cesare Battisti	Odero, Sestri Ponente	13 April 1927	Scuttled 3 April 1941
	Daniele Manin	CNQ Fiume	1 March 1927	Sunk by aerial bombing, 3 April 1941
	Francesco Nullo	CNQ Fiume	15 April 1927	Beached on Harmil island following a battle with, 21 October 1940; destroyed by three RAF Bristol Blenheim bombers the next day
	Nazario Sauro	Odero, Sestri Ponente	23 September 1926	Sunk by an Allied bombing, 3 April 1941

Operational history

The destroyers were outfitted for colonial service, and by 1935 they were deployed in the naval base of Massawa, Eritrea. Italian's entry in World War II left Italian East Africa isolated from Italy.

Attack on convoy BN 7

The only appreciable action in which the destroyers were involved was the attack on the Allied convoy BN 7, on the first hours of 21 October 1940. Nullo and Sauro, along with Leone and Pantera shelled the convoy and its escort, inflicting some splinter damage to the leading transport ship, and launched at least two torpedoes aimed at, which successfully dodged them. The attack was nevertheless repulsed by the cruiser HMS Leander, which fired 129 six-inch rounds on the Italian destroyers. While Sauro and the other destroyers successfully disengaged, Nullo was chased by the destroyer and forced to run aground on Harmil island, where she was later wrecked by RAF Blenheim bombers. Kimberley took two hits on a boiler from coastal batteries, and had to be towed to Aden by HMS Leander.

End of the surviving units

The three surviving destroyers remained at dock in Massawa until the very end of ground operations in East Africa. Their commander ordered them to steam out on 2 April 1941, for an almost suicidal attack on Port Sudan. The squadron was soon discovered by British air reconnaissance, and immediately bombed by land-based Swordfish aircraft from the aircraft carrier. Battisti managed to reach the Arabian coast, where she was scuttled by her crew. Manin and Sauro kept firing their antiaircraft guns until they were sunk by the British planes.