Euro (ship, 1927)
 The sister ship Nembo , which was built at the same shipyard
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RN Euro was an Italian turbine- class destroyer of the eight ships . The Euro suffered a torpedo hit in the port of Tobruk early in World War II . After the repair, the destroyer was used to secure the convoy between Italy and Italian Libya .
After the armistice of Cassibile , the destroyer used together with units of the British Royal Navy in the Aegean Sea was sunk by German dive bombers on October 1, 1943 in Leros .
History of the ship
In 1925, the eight turbine-class destroyers were laid for the Regia Marina at three shipyards in the Genoa area. The new class was a further development of the Cantiere Odero shipyard of the Sauro class started in 1924 , the four ships of which were all still under construction. With an additional three meters in length, they should be a little bigger and with a reinforced machinery they should be a knot faster. The armament with two 120 mm twin guns should remain the same.
The Euro was the second ship in the series that was built at Cantieri Navali del Tirreno in Riva Trigoso. The keel of the destroyer was laid on January 24, 1925, its launch on July 7, 1927 and its commissioning on December 22, 1927. The Euro was the fifth ship of the class that was completed.
The ship was named after Euros , a North African wind that sometimes reaches southern Italy. In Greek mythology, the name also stands for a deity. From 1901 to 1924 a destroyer of the Lampo class , which was built for the Regia Marina at the Schichau shipyard in Elbing, had already been named Euro .
Mission history
In 1929 the Euro and its sister ships Aquilone , Nembo and Turbine formed the 2nd season of the 1st torpedo boat flotilla in La Spezia . In 1931 the Euro was stationed with the sister ships Espero , Nembo and Zeffiro as well as the cruiser Ancona ex Graudenz in Ancona with the 2nd Flotilla. In 1932 she was one of the first destroyers to receive the new Galileo-Bergamini fire control station and, with the Nembo as the pilot's ship and the Aquilone and turbine, formed a test unit for testing this stand. In 1934 the four ships were renamed to the 8th destroyer squadron, which with the 4th squadron, formed from the other destroyers of the class, formed the 2nd division of the fleet around the heavy cruisers Fiume and Gorizia of the Zara class . From 1935 to 1937 the euro was then in reserve.
From 1937 she was used for missions off Spain . From 1938, the ship was often used off Italian Libya. In preparation for the Italian entry into the war, the Euro finally relocated to Tobruk in the spring of 1940, where all eight destroyers of the turbine class were now stationed as I. and II. Squadriglia.
War missions
From June 6, 1940, the Italian Navy began to move more defensive mine barriers off the Italian coasts because of the impending entry into the war ; off Tobruk this was done by the destroyers Nembo , Turbine , Aquilone and Euro .
On July 5, nine Swordfish torpedo aircraft of the 813th Squadron of the British aircraft carrier Eagle attacked the port of Tobruk and sank the destroyer Zeffiro and the freighter Manzoni (3955 GRT). The euro and two other freighters were beached to prevent an uncontrolled sinking. Euro was later recovered and, after an emergency repair, towed to Palermo in October . The necessary repairs were finally carried out in Taranto . They could be completed in March 1941.
The destroyer was used in escort service between Italy and Libya from April 1941, only the turbine was left of its sister ships ; the other six had already been lost in the course of the war.
On its first use after the repair, the Euro secured an Italian troop transport from Naples to Tripoli with the destroyers Luca Tarigo and Baleno and two torpedo boats of the Spica class . The convoy with the passenger ships Esperia (11,398 GRT), Conte Rosso (17,879 GRT), Marco Polo (12,272 GRT) and Victoria (13,098 GRT) was not attacked and escorted back to Italy by the security forces, with three other escorts at the same time were on their way back.
On the next order, Euro brought the German freighters Marburg , Kybfels , Reichenfels and two Italian transporters to North Africa with the destroyer Fulmine and three torpedo boats . Italian cruisers and other destroyers were also at sea for security, as activities of British destroyers had been recognized. The convoy, which left Palermo and Messina on April 25, was diverted twice and did not reach Tripoli until May 1. The safe march back from May 4th to 7th also succeeded without losses.
A German-Italian supply convoy secured by the Euro and the destroyers Folgore , Fulmine , Strale and Turbine from Palermo to Tripoli with the German freighters Prussia and Sparta , three Italian freighters and two Italian tankers was attacked by the British submarine Urge . The torpedoes missed the escort ships, but Prussia and the tanker Panuco collided during evasive maneuvers. The convoy reached Tripoli on May 21 without losses.
Another supply convoy of five freighters and a tanker, secured by euros , the destroyers Freccia and Dardo and three torpedo boats, was on 16./17. Attacked three times from the air by torpedo planes and bombers August 1941. The freighter Maddalena Odero received an air torpedo hit during the first attack and had to be towed by the torpedo boats Pegaso and Sirtori and touched down at Lampedusa . when it was attacked again, it was hit by a bomb, which set the cargo on fire and made the ship a total loss.
During the subsequent security order from the Euro , the submarine Urge attacked again and torpedoed the Aquitania transporter (4971 GRT) north of Trapani , which was set down on the Sicilian coast. During the marches back, the convoys accompanied by the euro did not come into contact with the enemy.
British torpedo planes from Malta hit a freighter from a Naples-Tripoli convoy of four ships on September 19, but tugs brought it to Trapani. In the subsequent convoy of six ships , also accompanied by the Euro , a torpedo aircraft from Malta was able to sink the freighter Rialto (6099 GRT).
The Duisburg convoy
In November 1941, under Capitano di Corvetta Cigala Fulgosi, under the lead destroyer Maestrale, with its sister ships Gregale and Libeccio , the Alfredo Oriani and the Fulmine , the Euro secured a supply convoy around the German motor ship Duisburg (7389 GRT, 1926 Hapag) of seven transporters for the German Africa Corps from Messina / Augusta to Tripoli in North Africa. On November 9, 1941, British Force K from Malta attacked the convoy with the cruisers Aurora and Penelope and the destroyers Lance and Lively (with information from Ultra and radar support). The attackers concentrated on destroying the transporters. When Fulmine and Euro recognized the British attackers and tried to defend the convoy, Fulmine was sunk and Euro hit several times; however, the shells of the British cruiser penetrated the light destroyer without exploding. When the Italians searched the battlefield for survivors that morning, the British submarine Upholder torpedoed the Libeccio . Euro towed the severely damaged destroyer towards Italy for over four hours, but it could not be kept afloat. Together with the Maestrale , the Euro took over the crew of the sinking destroyer. The ship was later repaired in Taranto .
Euro was stationed in the Aegean Sea in 1942 and secured supplies for the Italian garrisons on the occupied Greek islands and in the Dodecanese. On September 9, 1943, the euro brought reinforcements to Rhodes . She left Rhodes again for Leros on the 11th, as the complete conquest of the island by her former allied Germans was expected.
The end of the euro
After the armistice agreement in Italy, the ship was taken over into the Allied fleet for operations in the eastern Mediterranean. On September 26, 1943, German dive bombers attacked Leros and sank the destroyers Vasilissa Olga and Intrepid . Euro looked for a new anchorage and was sunk in Leros by German dive bombers on October 1, 1943 .
The survivors of the crew took part in the defense of the island under the leadership of their commander Meneghini. They recovered all the weapons they could use from their sunken ship. The men of the euro were among the last units to fight the Germans. When they capitulated on November 17, 1943, the Germans shot the commander, frigate captain Vittorio Meneghini (* 1900). He was posthumously awarded the gold medal for bravery, medaglia d'oro al valor militare (MOVM).
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ RN stands for Regia Nave or "Royal Ship". In the non-Italian literature it is often assumed that RN is the generally valid ship name prefix of the Italian Regia Marina . Basically, however, it was only used for line ships, armored ships and battleships; otherwise the prefix referred to the respective ship or boat type. It should be noted that the prefix played a much smaller role in Italy than the British HMS or the German SMS. In Italian specialist literature, the ship name prefixes are generally left out completely for Italian units up to 1946.
- ↑ Rohwer: Sea War , 6.6.– 10.7.1940 Mediterranean / Red Sea, interpretation of extensive defensive mine barriers on the Italian Mediterranean coasts.
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , air warfare 07/05/1940 Mediterranean.
- ↑ Rohwer: Sea War , 1.-4.4. and 7-11 April 1941 Mediterranean Sea
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 25.4.- 5.1.1941 Mediterranean
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , May 16-23, 1941 Mediterranean
- ↑ SS Maddalena Odero (+1941)
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , August 12–24, 1941 Mediterranean
- ↑ MV Rialto (+1941)
- ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 18.- 09.30.1941 Mediterranean
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , October 1–10, 1941 Mediterranean
- ^ Rohwer: Sea War , 9.– 26.9.1943 Aegean Sea