| Orsa-class torpedo boat | |
|---|---|
|
File:RM Pegaso at home.jpg Torpedo boat Pegaso | |
| Class overview | |
| Operators: |
 Regia Marina Marina Militare |
| In commission: | 1936–1964 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Lost: | 2 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type: | Torpedo boat |
| Displacement: |
840 long tons (850 t) standard 1,575 long tons (1,600 t) full load |
| Length: | 82.5 m (270 ft 8 in) |
| Beam: | 9.69 m (31 ft 9 in) |
| Draught: | 3.74 m (12 ft 3 in) |
| Propulsion: |
2 shaft steam turbines 2 boilers 16,000 hp (11,900 kW) |
| Speed: | 28 knots (32 mph; 52 km/h) |
| Complement: | 116 |
| Armament: |
• 2 × 100 mm (3.9 in) guns • 10 × 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[2] • 6 × depth charge throwers |
The Orsa class were a group of large torpedo boats or destroyer escorts built for the Italian Navy in the late 1930s. They were an enlarged version of the Spica-class torpedo boat, with more endurance and a greater depth charge load but less powerful machinery and a lighter gun armament. The surviving pair were rebuilt as anti-submarine frigates in the 1950s.
Ships[]
| Ship | builder | Launched | Operational History |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pegaso | BS Napoletani | 8 December 1936 | Sank British submarines HMS Upholder and HMS Thorn. She was part of the screen of destroyers and torpedo boats escorting a four-freighter convoy to Tripoli on 26 May 1941,[3] when two Blenheim bombers were shot down.[4] She also took part in the shooting down of a Beaufort bomber and a Beaufighter while escorting another convoy on 21 August 1942.[5] Scuttled 11 September 1943 |
| Procione | BS Napoletani | 31 January 1937 | Scuttled 11 September 1943 |
| Orione | CNR Palermo | 21 April 1937 | Survived the war and served in the post-war Marina Militare. Decommissioned 1964 |
| Orsa | CNR Palermo | 21 March 1937 | Survived the war and served in the post-war Marina Militare. Decommissioned 1964 |
References[]
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting ships 1922-1946
- ↑ Marina Militare
- ↑ Naval Events, May 1941, Part 2 of 2
- ↑ Shores, Cull & Malizia, p. 223
- ↑ Shores, Cull & Malizia (1991).Malta: The Spitfire Year 1942. Grub Street, p. 524. ISBN 0-948817-16-X
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The original article can be found at Orsa-class torpedo boat and the edit history here.