Aquila class

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Marina Regia
Aquila class
Aquila-class cruiser.jpg Aquila 1917
overview
Ship type : Flotilla leader
from 1917: scout cruiser esploratore leggero
from 1938: destroyer cacciatorpediniere
Units: 4th
Builder: Pattison , Naples
Keel laying : from March 1914
1. Launch : July 26, 1916 Aquila
1. Commissioning: February 8, 1917 Aquila
Use until: 1961 in Romania
Technical specifications
Displacement : 1594  ts
1760 ts maximum
Length: 94.7 m above sea level, 94.3 m pp.
Width: 9.5 m
Draft : up to 3.6 m
Drive : 5 Thornycroft boilers
2 Tosi turbines
40,000 HP
Fuel supply: 260 tons of oil
Speed : 34 kn
Range : 1,700 nm at 15 kn
Crew : 146
Armament: 3 × 152 mm L / 40 guns
4 × 76 mm L / 40 guns
2 × 6.5 mm L / 80 machine guns
2 × 2 457 mm torpedo tubes
44 sea ​​mines
Armament from 1926: 2 × 2 120 mm L / 45 guns
1 × 120 mm L / 45 gun
2 × 76 mm L / 40 guns
2 × 6.5 mm L / 80 machine guns
2 × 2 457 mm torpedo tubes
up to 50 sea mines
Armament from 1944:
Romania 		2 × 2 120 mm L / 45 guns
1 × 2 37 mm L / 80 Flak C / 30
2 × 37 mm L / 80 Flak C / 30
4 × 20 mm L / 80 C / 30 - automatic cannons
2 × 2 457 mm torpedo tubes
up to 50 sea mines
2 × depth charges

The Aquila class was a class of four scout cruisers ( esploratori leggeri ) of the Italian Regia Marina . The ships were ordered by Romania in 1913 as a large destroyer at Pattison in Naples . When Italy entered the World War on the Entente side in 1915, three units were on the helm of the shipyard.

The first three ships ( Aquila , Sparviero , Nibbio ) were completed in World War II as esploratori leggeri with a heavy main armament of three 152 mm guns and were temporarily the most powerful destroyers in the world.

In 1920 the Romanian Navy took over two units that were put into service as destroyers Mărăşti and Mărăşeşti . From 1941 they were the heaviest naval units of the Axis powers in the Black Sea. In 1944/45 the two destroyers were confiscated by the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and used for a year. They remained in use in Romania until 1961.
The two units that remained in Italy were left to the Spanish nationalists in autumn 1937. They were used by the Spanish Navy as training ships Ceuta and Melilla until 1948 and 1950, respectively.

History of the Aquila Class

In 1913 Romania ordered four large destroyers from the Pattison shipyard in Naples, which were to be armed with five 120 mm cannons. Such large destroyers were built at the same time by European shipyards for South American navies and by the Imperial Russian Navy . The ships were to be named Vijelie , Vartez , Vifor and Viscul .

The keel-laying of the first three units of the class took place between January and July 1914. When the First World War broke out, further construction slowed down, although both states were still neutral.

After joining the war in May, Italy confiscated the unfinished units on June 5, 1915 and had them completed for its own navy. Due to the lack of modern cruisers, however, they received a considerably stronger armament with 152-mm cannons.
As the first ship of the class, the Aquila ( eagle ) was launched on July 26, 1916 , which was originally to be named Vifor ( snowstorm ). The shipyard then began building a fourth ship of the class in August, which could only be completed in January 1920. Aquila was the first ship of the class to enter service on February 8, 1917. The Sparviero ( Sparrowhawk ), launched in March 1917, joined the Italian Navy in July of that year; Nibbio ( Milan ), launched in January 1918, in May 1918. The Italian Navy had already named torpedo boats twice after the birds of prey; last torpedo boats first class delivered by Schichau in 1888 , which were separated from 1912 to 1914.

Technical specifications

With a hull length of 94.7 m over all (94.3 m pp.), The ships of the Aquila class were slightly shorter than the esploratori of the Mirabello class developed for the Italian Navy . They had a hull width of up to 9.5 m and a draft of up to 3.6 m. The ships of the class were powered by two Tosi- type turbine sets , which were supposed to deliver 40,000 hp and which were supplied with steam from five Thornycroft- type water-tube boilers . With this machine system, the ships should reach a maximum speed of 34 knots (kn) . All four units built exceeded this speed on their test drives. The oil supply of 260 t enabled a range of 1700 nm at a cruising speed of 15 kn. The ships displaced 1594 t and with maximum payload 1760 t.

Armament

The blueprint of the shipyard for the Romanian Navy envisaged a main armament of five 120 mm L / 45 cannons, which were to be set up in two twin mounts and a single gun on the center line. In addition, four 76 mm L / 40 cannons and two 450 mm twin torpedo tube sets were to be installed.

Tear of the Aquila for the time of commissioning

Since the Italian Navy had only a few modern cruisers available, the ships were equipped with three individual 152 mm L / 40 guns of the Armstrong 1889 type, two of which stood side by side on the outside near the bridge on the forecastle. The four 76 mm Ansaldo 1917 guns could also be used for air defense and, like the heavy cannons, were made in Italy. They were further developments of British licensed products. In addition, the anti-aircraft ships received two 6.5 mm machine guns from an Italian license production of a US weapon from Colt-Browning . The two twin torpedo tube sets were set up at the same height to the side of the middle of the three funnels. This setup reduced the possible uses of this weapon; however, it was not changed during the service of the four units. The ships were also prepared as mine layers, which could carry up to 44 sea ​​mines .

The 152-mm armament proved to be unsuitable for use on these ships during the war and was replaced from 1926 by 120-mm-L / 45 guns of the Schneider-Canet-Armstrong type 1918-19, of which one twin gun was on the forecastle and a second were placed on an elevated position at the stern. In addition, there was a single 120 mm gun on a deckhouse between the two rear funnels, which was dismantled on the Italian ships in 1927 and on the Romanian ships in 1939. The 120 mm twin guns had been the standard armament of Italian destroyers since the 1920s, for which they were constantly being developed.

Mission history

Surname Keel laying Launch in service Whereabouts
Aquila 03/11/1913 07/26/1916 February 8, 1917 October 1937 to Spain: Melilla . Segregated in 1948.
Sparviero 01/29/1914 March 25, 1917 07/15/1917 in July 1920 to Romania: Marasesti . 1944/45 Soviet Union;
Romania again: D 12 , scrapped in 1963.
Nibbio 07/15/1914 01/30/1918 05/15/1918 in July 1920 to Romania: Marasti . 1944/45 Soviet Union;
Romania again: D 11 , scrapped in 1963
Falco 08/19/1916 08/16/1919 01/20/1920 October 1937 to Spain: Ceuta . Segregated in 1948.

On March 15, 1917, the Aquila was one of the ships of the allies who sailed from Brindisi to intercept the Austrian attackers on the Otranto lock . The first two destroyers of the Tátra-class discovered , which carried out a successful diversionary attack and had almost completely destroyed an Italian escort, should put the Aquila with three destroyers of the Pilo-class and the Giovanni Acerbi and prevent their return to Kotor .

A pursuit battle developed in which the Aquila quickly caught up with the enemy destroyers with her superior speed and scored a hit on the Balaton shortly after the fire opened . The next hit was scored by the Czepel : its grenade hit the engine room of the Aquila , rendering it unable to maneuver. The Italian destroyers secured their lead ship and broke off the pursuit. The two Austrian destroyers safely reached the protection of their own coastal batteries at Durazzo . The damaged Aquila could be brought in and was ready for use again after six months.
The "esploratori" were used individually or together to secure advances by destroyers or lighter units in the Adriatic until the end of the war .
After the armistice, the ships from Valona transported Italian soldiers to occupy individual islands such as Curzola / today Korčula , Lèsina / Hvar and Meleda / Mljet as well as from Sebenico / today Šibenik on the Dalmatian coast.

In 1920 Sparviero and Nibbio were sold to the original client Romania and transferred to the Black Sea .
On 4th / 5th In March 1921 the Italian king used the Falco to travel from Civitavecchia to San Remo to attend the funeral of his father-in-law, Nikola I of Montenegro . In 1927, the two remaining ships were re-armament based on the Romanian model. They also exchanged the 152 mm guns for two 120 mm twin guns in the bow and stern positions and only briefly received a fifth single gun between the funnels. They mostly served as flotilla leaders . During an exercise with a destroyer unit and submarines, the destroyer Giuseppe Missori overran the submarine F 14 in August 1928 . As one of the first ships at the place of the sinking, the Aquila was involved in the recovery of the submerged submarine, but this took place too late to save the trapped crew.

In the autumn of 1937, Aquila and Falco were made available to the Spanish nationalists. The official levy took place in January 1939, after the two had been downgraded to destroyers in September 1938.

Inserts after the Italian usage

Flag of Romania.svg

In 1920 Sparviero and Nibbio were given to Romania after all, where they were renamed Mărăşti and Mărăşeşti . The names are reminiscent of two battles between the Romanian Army and the Central Powers in 1917.

Marasti 1930

On July 1, 1920, the two ships arrived in Constanța , their future base. The Romanians decided in 1921 to overtake Mărăşti and Mărăşeşti and to arm them with 120 mm guns. The overhaul took place in 1925 at the local shipyard in Galatz / Galați . In 1926, the ships came to the shipyard in Naples for rearmament.

When World War II began in 1939, the two ships were the most heavily armed ships in the Romanian Navy with five 120mm and two 76mm cannons alongside the two more modern destroyers of the Regele Ferdinand class . When Romania entered the war in June 1941 at the beginning of the Eastern campaign , the 120 mm single gun and the two 76 mm guns were dismantled and replaced by a 13 mm Hotchkiss twin machine gun and two 37 mm guns. Rheinmetall -Flak replaced. They also now had two different depth charges (330 mm and 900 mm). Later, the two ships received additional anti-aircraft weapons from German production.

Already on June 26, 1941, Mărăşti in Constanța proved itself in repelling an attack by the Soviet Black Sea Fleet . She shot down an airplane and scored a hit on the flotilla leader Kharkov .
During the war, the two ships primarily secured supply convoys between Romania and the Bosporus , in particular with oil for the Axis powers' warfare in the Mediterranean region. During the 55 escorts they lost four ships; a Soviet submarine could be sunk.

Soviet UnionSoviet Union (naval war flag)In August 1944, the two ships were captured by the Soviet troops in Constanța. The Black Sea Fleet used the two Romanian ships as Lovkiy (Ловкий, ex-Mărăşti) and Lyogkiy (Лёгкий, ex-Mărăşeşti). They were returned to Romania as early as October 1945. There they were used as the D 11 and D 12 until the 1960s.

Flag of Spain (1938–1945) .svg

In September 1937, the Spanish nationalists bought the two Aquila-class ships that had remained with Italy. They were taken over by Spanish garrisons on October 10, 1939. To cover up the takeover, they were named Velasco-Melilla or Velasco-Ceuta after the only destroyer on the nationalist side, Velasco .

The destroyer Velasco

In order to deceive inattentive observers, they also made the dummy of a fourth chimney. Only on January 6, 1939, the ships were officially separated from the Italian Navy and transferred to the Spanish Navy as Melilla and Ceuta . The poor technical condition of the ships taken over led to an occupation with auxiliary tasks. They controlled ship movements off the Spanish coasts on the Mediterranean Sea and brought up merchant ships with goods for the Republicans. In August 1938, the two ships with the cruiser Canarias stopped the republican destroyer José Luis Diez while attempting to move to Cartagena in the Mediterranean . The Ceuta met the Diez several times, on which there were many dead and wounded, but which escaped Gibraltar .
After the end of the Spanish Civil War , the ships were used for training purposes. In 1948 the Ceuta (ex Falco ) was scrapped and in 1950 the Melilla (ex Aquila ) was scrapped .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b according to Gogin: navypedia.org Falco was delivered with this armament in 1920
  2. ↑ a b c d Gardiner: Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1906-1921 , p. 266.
  3. ↑ AQUILA torpedo boats (1888)
  4. ↑ Weyers Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotten 1941/42, p. 354
  5. ↑ a b Halpern: A Naval History of World War I. , S. 162ff.

Web links

Commons : Aquila Class Scouts  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

literature

  • Robert Gardiner, R. Chesnau: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921 , Conway Maritime Press, 1985, ISBN 0-85177-245-5 .
  • Robert Gardiner, R. Chesnau: Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1922-1946 , Conway's Maritime Press, 1987, ISBN 0-85177-146-7 .
  • Paul G. Halpern: A Naval History of World War I. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1995, ISBN 1-55750-352-4 .