Impavido-class destroyer

Impavido-class destroyer
File:Impavido.jpg MM Impavido
Class overview
Operators:	Marina Militare
Preceded by:	Impetuoso
Succeeded by:	Audace
In commission:	21 November 1963 - 15 July 1992
Completed:	2
Retired:	2
General characteristics Data from
Displacement:	3,201 ton standard 3,941 tons full load
Length:	130.9 m (429 ft 6 in)
Beam:	13.6 m (44 ft 7 in)
Draught:	4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)
Propulsion:	2 shaft geared turbines 4 Foster Wheeler boilers, 70,000 hp (52,000 kW)
Speed:	34 kn (63 km/h)
Range:	3,300 nmi (6,100 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h)
Complement:	344 (15 Officers, 319 Men)
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-12 Air search radar AN/SPS-39 3D radar AN/SPG-51 Tartar fire control AN/SQS-23 sonar
Armament:	1× Tartar SAM system 2× 127/38mm gun 4× Oto Melara 76/62mm MMI 2× 533 mm triple torpedo launchers
Aircraft carried:	1 helicopter

The Impavido class were the second group of destroyers built for the Italian Navy (MMI) after World War II and the first Italian Guided Missile destroyers.

Similar in performance to the American Charles F. Adams class, these ships were essentially improved Impetuoso class vessels, with the after gun-turret being replaced by a Tartar Surface-to-Air-Missile launcher and associated radar. Apart from the same main armament as that of the 'Adams', the emphasis of the weaponry was focused on anti-aircraft equipment, so the secondary armament was a battery of 76mm automatic guns fitted midships, not the ASROC missile. The 127mm guns remained. Torpedoes were the same as the wartime Mk 38, while the Adams had the newer Mk 42 which covered all the horizon thanks to their disposition, fore and aft.

These ships were important because they represented the first missile destroyers in the MMI and lasted in service for many years, even if they had not had any important update (making them progressively obsolescent). A characteristic of these ships were the superstructures, having a much less clean layout than other classes, with a double line of windows in the main turrion, similar to the Alpino frigates.

Both ships were retired in 1991.

Ships

Name	Pennant number	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Impavido	D 570	CNR Riva Trigoso	10 June 1957	25 May 1962	16 November 1963	Decommissioned 1992
Intrepido	D 571	Ansaldo	16 May 1959	21 October 1962	28 July 1964	Decommissioned 1991

Impavido, in May 1983

References

• Blackman, Raymond V.B. Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72. London: Sampson Low Marston & Co, 1971. ISBN 0-354-00096-9.
• Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley (editors). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.