Italian World War II destroyers

At the start of World War II, Italian destroyers (Italian: cacciatorpediniere) were a mix of warships dating from old, World War I designs up to some of the most modern of their type in the world. They also varied in size from enlarged torpedo-boats to esploratori (an Italian designation for large destroyers approaching light cruiser size).

Although the reputation of Italian military prowess has suffered from its performance in North Africa in World War II, blame cannot be placed with its warships nor with their crews. Their destroyers were responsible for the safe flow of convoys to supply the Axis armies in North Africa, a dangerous task, and for the suppression of British submarines.

The designation "esploratori", meaning "scouts", was originally given to a class of Italian warship that were between the then current destroyers and cruisers, in terms of size and firepower. They were reclassified as destroyers by 1940. The Regia Marina classified yet another group of ships (Capitani Romani class) as "esploratori oceanici"—ocean scouts.

The later ships were primarily employed as fleet escorts, but not exclusively so. Other tasks included mine-laying, convoy escort, anti-submarine, supply transport and anti-shipping.

Italian destroyers were usually organised into Squadriglie of four ships of one class.

The operational areas for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) were expected to be enclosed seas such as the Mediterranean, Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. This was reflected in the design and construction of its warships, which did not need to withstand open ocean conditions. In 1941, the appropriately named Scirocco foundered in a storm off Cape Spartivento.

Italian destroyer designs followed differing design paths. At one end, a torpedo boat design was developed into a series of destroyer classes (Sella, Sauro and Turbine) that were comparable with their British contemporaries. There were also large destroyers of the older Mirabello and Leone classes, which, due to their older design, were kept to less dangerous tasks. The large destroyer concept was revived in the mid-1920s, in response to new French designs.

At the end of the 1920s, a design emerged (Freccia class) that was the basis for improvement and standardisation. Subsequent classes showed incremental changes that improved reliability and the Maestrales were the template for the following twenty-three ships.

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