Ciclone-class torpedo boat

Class overview
The Ciclone-class torpedo boat Aliseo
Operators:	Regia Marina Kriegsmarine Yugoslav Navy Soviet Navy
Built:	1942–1943
In commission:	1942–1949
Completed:	16
Lost:	11
General characteristics
Type:	Torpedo boat
Displacement:	910 long tons (920 t) standard 1,625 long tons (1,651 t) full load
Length:	82.5 m (270 ft 8 in)
Beam:	9.9 m (32 ft 6 in)
Draught:	3.77 m (12 ft 4 in)
Propulsion:	2 shaft steam turbines 2 Yarrow type boilers 16,000 hp (11,900 kW)
Speed:	26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph)
Complement:	154
Sensors and processing systems:	Sonar and hydrophones
Armament:	2 × 100 mm (4 in) / 47 caliber guns (3 guns in some ships after refit) 8 × 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft guns 8 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) AA machine guns 4 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes 4 × depth charge throwers

The Ciclone class were a group of torpedo boats or destroyer escorts built for the Italian Navy which fought in the Second World War. They were slightly enlarged versions of the previous Orsa class, with improved stability and heavier anti-submarine armament. These ships were built as part of the Italian war mobilization programme and completed in 1942-43.

All units were fitted with a sonar, and also torpedo launchers were present in the same quantity and placement for all units of the class. However, there were three different gun configurations in the class:

Units of this class were heavily operated in escort duties between Italy and Northern Africa, or in antisubmarine patrols. Some units were still incomplete when Italy signed the armistice of Cassibile, and were sabotaged by the Italians, or captured by the Germans, completed and reclassified as "Torpedoboot Ausland" (Foreign Torpedo-boat).

Aliseo, with Carlo Fecia di Cossato in command, destroyed eight German Auxiliary vessels near the port of Bastia, Corsica. For this success, di Cossato was given the highest Italian military decoration, the Gold Medal of Military Valor

Five units survived the war, to be transferred to the USSR, Greece and Yugoslavia as reparation for war damages. None was left in service with Italian Navy.

...
Wikipedia