Audace-class destroyer

Ardito and Audace at La Spezia
Class overview
Name:	Audace class
Operators:	Marina Militare
Preceded by:	Impavido class
Succeeded by:	Durand de la Penne class
In commission:	2 October 1971 - 28 September 2006
Completed:	2
Retired:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	4,554 tons full load
Length:	140.7 m (462 ft)
Beam:	14.7 m (48 ft)
Draught:	4.5 m (15 ft)
Propulsion:	2 shaft geared steam turbines 4 Foster Wheeler boilers providing 73,000 hp
Speed:	33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range:	4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Complement:	380
Armament:	As built: 2 × Otobreda 127 mm gun 4 × Oto Melara 76/62 mm Compact gun 1 × Tartar SAM system 2 × 324 mm triple torpedo launchers 2 × 533 mm triple torpedo launchers Post 1987-1990 modernization: 1 × Otobreda 127 mm gun 4 × Oto Melara 76/62 mm Super Rapido gun 1 × Mk.29 octuple launcher for Sea Sparrow/Selenia Aspide SAM 1 × Mk 13 launcher with 40 Standard SM-1MR missiles 8 × OTOMAT SSMs 2 × 324 mm triple torpedo launchers
Aircraft carried:	2 AB-212ASW helicopters

The Audace-class destroyers were two guided missile destroyers built for the Italian Navy during the Cold War. An improvement of the Impavido class, these ships were designed for area air defence and also had a heavy gun armament. They were fitted with contemporary American radars and sonars, but also they were fitting, just as the next Italian ships, they fitted all the new weapons made by Italian industry of the time, such torpedoes, helicopters and guns. Also some indigenous radars were fitted.

The design of these ships was related to the previous Impavido class, but they were meant as a decisive improvement over these older vessels. They were built with a hull more able to resist high sea conditions which incorporated an aft superstructure capable of accommodating 2 AB-212 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters. This gave the vessels an ASW capability, with improved sonars and torpedo tubes.

The superstructures were built with aluminium alloys in two blocks with one mack (this is the combination with the funnels supporting metallic, short trees used for radar equipment) each. The distance between the two superstructure blocks was notably high, because both the propulsion systems were located at midships and over this, the 76 mm gun battery. The aft superstructure was dedicated to the Tartar/SM-1 missiles and hangar.

The propulsion had a two powerful steam-turbine system powered by four Foster Wheeler boilers providing 73,000 hp, driving two shafts. It gave the vessels a speed of 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) and good endurance of 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) .

With this new design, in order to perform ASW tasks, it was decided to adopt a powerful dedicated weapon. Instead of adopting the ASROC missile, it decided to use A.184 wired torpedoes. These weapons had both ASW and AS (Anti-ship) capabilities, and while it did not have impressive performance (roughly 10–12 km/36 knots, 24 km/24knts) being a conventional electrical torpedo, it was one of the better models of its time and was modernized with several updates. It was also one of the first to have both ASW and AS capabilities, while in the 1970s many torpedoes were built to have one or the other capability, lacking wire-guidance or homing sonar guidance. Twelve examples were on board, just as many as the smaller light torpedoes A.244 or Mk46 models with triple ILAS-3 launchers. A.244 had better shallow-waters capabilities, but they were limited in performances to Mk.44 level. Mk.46 torpedoes were better suited to attack depth and fast targets.