Nicola Fabrizi (ship, 1917)

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The Nicola Fabrizi (FB) was a torpedo boat destroyer ( Cacciatorpediniere ) of the La Masa class of the Italian Regia Marina . It was named after the Risorgimento patriot Nicola Fabrizi (1804–1885).

Construction and technical data

The boat belonged to the third of four boats built between 1913 and 1919 of almost the same size, which only differed in terms of their armament: the Pilo class from 1913 (eight boats), the Sirtori class from 1916 (four boats), the La Masa class from 1916 (eight boats) and the Cantore or Generali class from 1919 (six boats). They displaced between 615 and 709 tons (standard), were 73–73.5 m long and 7.3 m wide and had three chimneys. They were all reclassified to torpedo boats on October 1, 1929 .

The Nicola Fabrizi was on September 1, 1916 in the shipyard Cantieri Odero in Sestri Ponente ( Genoa ) to put Kiel , ran on July 8 in 1917 by the stack and was put into service on July 12, 1918th She was 73.5 m long and 7.3 m wide and had a draft of 3.0 m . Their water displacement was 660 t (standard) and 875 t (maximum). The machinery consisted of four oil-fired Thornycroft - boilers and two Tosi - steam turbines , the 15,000 horsepower delivered. The ship had two waves . The top speed when commissioned was 34 knots , but had dropped to just 30 knots at the start of World War II . The bunker capacity was 150 tons of oil, the range 2230 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 13 knots. The boat was armed with four 102 mm L / 45 cannons from Schneider-Armstrong in a stand -alone arrangement and four anti - aircraft machine guns and four 450 mm torpedo tubes in swiveling twin sets . The crew numbered 99-100 men. In 1940 the armament of the boat was changed; it now consisted of two 102 mm cannons, two 76 mm Flak L / 40s, six 20 mm Fla-MG and a twin set of 450 mm torpedo tubes.

fate

When the Italian entered the war on June 10, 1940, the Nicola Fabrizi belonged to the 7th torpedo boat division stationed in Brindisi , together with her sister ships Angelo Bassini (BS) , Enrico Cosenza (CS) and Giacomo Medici (MD) . On October 21, 1940 she was assigned to the newly formed Maritrafalba Command in Brindisi, which was responsible for carrying out and securing the transport of troops and supplies to Albania . Only a few days later, on October 25th, she was assigned to the Forza Navale Speciale (FNS), which was supposed to carry out the planned but not carried out landing on Corfu when Italy was about to attack Greece . Then she carried out security work in the southern Adriatic again .

The boat got into a heavy battle with far superior British cruisers and destroyers on the night of 11-12 November 1940 . During the British air raid on the Italian naval forces in Taranto on November 12, 1940 ( attack on Taranto ), the Royal Navy sent the 7th Cruiser Squadron under Vice Admiral Henry Pridham-Whippell to the lower Adriatic. It consisted of the three light cruisers HMS Ajax , HMS Orion and HMAS Sydney and the destroyers HMS Nubian and HMS Mohawk . Shortly after midnight, north of the Strait of Otranto , the squadron encountered a small Italian convoy on its way from Vlora to Brindisi, consisting of the four Italian freighters Capo Vado (4391 GRT ), Catalani (2429 GRT), Antonio Locatelli (5691 GRT) and Premuda (4427 GRT). He was secured by the auxiliary cruiser Ramb III and the Nicola Fabrizi . The Ramb III fired 19 volleys for its own defense and sought the distance, while the Nicola Fabrizi attacked the enemy and the Sydney narrowly missed with a torpedo. The Nicola Fabrizi was shot incapacitated in the battle, but escaped to Vlora with 11 dead and 17 wounded. The British then sank all four freighters. The Italian torpedo boats Curtatone and Solferino recovered a total of 140 survivors during the day; 36 men, including those who fell on the Nicolo Fabrizi , lost their lives. The commander of the Nicola Fabrizi , Tenente di vascello di complemento ( Lieutenant Captain ) Giovanni Barbini, was awarded the gold medal for bravery for his conduct.

The boat was repaired again and then continued to provide escort and security services. On September 21, 1943, after the proclamation of the armistice between Italy and the Allies, the Nicola Fabrizi and her sister ship Giacinto Carini escaped to Malta . From there they returned to Italy with the Allied invasion forces on October 5th and then provided escort services in the Italian sea area until the end of the war.

The Nicola Fabrizi was one of 20 old torpedo boats that Italy was allowed to keep after the Paris Peace Treaty in 1947 . She was downgraded to a minesweeper in 1954 with the identification M 5333 , retired in February 1957 and then scrapped.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/40-10.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/40-11.htm
  3. ↑ Alberto Santoni: L'attacco inglese a Taranto. Rivista Italiana di Difesa. November 1990, pp. 88-95 (Italian)
  4. ↑ Cristiano D'Adamo: Regia Marina: November 12th, 1940.
  5. ↑ Cristiano D'Adamo: Regia Marina November 12th, 1940.

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