Sauro class destroyer

Class overview
Italian destroyer Sauro
Name:	Sauro class
Operators:	Regia Marina
Preceded by:	Sella class
Succeeded by:	Turbine class
In commission:	1927–1941
Completed:	4
Lost:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1,058 long tons (1,075 t) standard 1,600 long tons (1,600 t) full load
Length:	90.16 m (295 ft 10 in)
Beam:	9.2 m (30 ft 2 in)
Draught:	2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
Propulsion:	2 shaft Parsons type geared turbines 3 boilers 36,000 hp (26,800 kW)
Speed:	35 knots (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Range:	2,600 nmi (4,800 km) at 14 knots (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement:	156
Armament:	4 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns (2×2) 2 × 40 mm/39 pom-pom anti-aircraft guns 2 × 13.2 mm machine guns 6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (2×3) 52 mines

The Sauro class were a group of destroyers built for the Italian Navy in the late 1920s. They were based in the Red Sea Italian colony of Eritrea and all fought in World War II being sunk during the East African Campaign in 1941.

These ships were an enlarged version of the Sella-class destroyer, with six rather than four torpedo tubes, a 60 cm increase in beam, and a new bridge structure.

These ships formed the 3rd Squadrilla and were based in the Red Sea.

The destroyers were outfitted for colonial service, and by 1935 they were deployed in the naval base of Massawa, Eritrea. Italian's entry in World War II left Italian East Africa isolated from Italy.

The only appreciable action in which the destroyers were involved was the attack on the Allied convoy BN 7, on the first hours of 21 October 1940. Nullo and Sauro, along with Leone and Pantera shelled the convoy and its escort, inflicting some splinter damage to the leading transport ship, and launched at least two torpedoes aimed at HMAS Yarra, which successfully dodged them. The attack was nevertheless repulsed by the cruiser HMS Leander, which fired 129 six-inch rounds on the Italian destroyers. While Sauro and the other destroyers successfully disengaged, Nullo was chased by the destroyer HMS Kimberley and forced to run aground on Harmil island, where she was later wrecked by RAF Blenheim bombers. Kimberley took two hits on a boiler from coastal batteries, and had to be towed to Aden by HMS Leander.

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Wikipedia