Cassiopea-class patrol vessel

Last updated
Spica P403.jpg
Patrol ship Spica (P 403)
Class overview
NameCassiopea
Builders FincantieriMuggiano
OperatorsNaval Ensign of Italy.svg  Italian Navy
Albanian Naval Forces insignia.svg  Albanian Naval Force (Future)
Completed4
Active
  • Cassiopea (P 401)
  • Libra (P 402)
  • Spica (P 403)
  • Vega (P 404)
General characteristics [1]
Type Patrol vessel
Displacement
  • 1.130  t (1.112 long tons) standard
  • 1.500 t (1.476 long tons) full load
Length
  • 79.80 m (261 ft 10 in) oa
  • 71.50 m (234 ft 7 in) pp
Beam11.80 m (38 ft 9 in)
Draught3.60 m (11 ft 10 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) maximum
  • 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) continuous
Range3,300 nmi (6,100 km; 3,800 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Endurance35 days
Crew6 officers, 54 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 1 × SMA SPN-748(V)2 Navigation radar
  • 1 × AESN SPS-702(v)2 surface search radar
  • 1 × AESN SPG-70 (RTN 10X) fire control radar
  • 1 × GEM Elettronica Gemini-DB navigation radar
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Elint equipment
Armament
Aircraft carried1 Agusta-Bell AB-212 ASW helicopter
Aviation facilitiesHangar and flight deck

The Cassiopea class is a series of four heavy patrol boats of the Italian Navy. They were built in the late 1980s on civilian standards. They are designed for patrol in safe areas.

Contents

Development and design

In the early 1980s the Italian navy developed two classes of corvettes to replace older vessels. The Minerva class were fully combatant ships to serve as coastal escorts, and equipped with modern sensors and armament, while the Cassiopea class were simpler offshore patrol vessels intended to replace the old Albatros-class corvettes used for fisheries patrol. [1] [3]

Vega Vega P404.jpg
Vega

Construction of four ships (out of eight originally planned) was authorized in December 1982, with funding from the Ministry of Merchant Marine. Orders were placed in December 1986, with construction starting the next year at Fincantieri shipyard, Muggiano. The ships were built to mercantile standards, and the first ship entered service in 1989. A further two ships were cancelled in 1991, prior to the start of construction. [1] [4]

Cassiopea Cassiopea (P 401) 03.JPG
Cassiopea

The ships' main gun armament is a single 76mm/L62 Allargato gun; both gun and fire control systems came from scrapped Bergamini-class frigates. Each ship is fitted with a flight deck and fixed hangar to accommodate a helicopter type Agusta-Bell AB-212 ASW of the Italian navy. Each also carries equipment for dealing with pollution. [1] Between 2012 and 2014 all units were fitted with Selex ES Janus-N IR optronic system. As of 2014 the ships, starting with Libra were fitted with new dual-band navigation (X/Ka) Gemini-DB radar systems from GEM Elettronica.

Ships

Source: [1]

Naval Ensign of Italy.svg  Italian Navy - Cassiopea class
Name Pennant
number
Hull
number
Laid downLaunchedCommissionedMotto
Cassiopea P 4015846 [5] 16 March 198719 July 198821 October 1989Adsum
Libra P 402584716 March 198727 July 198823 March 1991Patiens vigil audax
Spica P 40358485 September 198827 May 198923 March 1991Vigile attendo
Vega P 404584930 June 198924 February 19908 May 1992Sempre e ovunque

Transfer to the Albanian Navy

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the takeover of new warships on Saturday April 5th 2025. The main armament of the "Cassiopea" is a single Oto-Melara 76/62 Allargato gun, with weapons and fire control systems used by decommissioned Rizzo/Bergamini-class frigates. It is now learned that this ship will be a corvette type, "Cassiopeia", of the Italian Navy. Its delivery is in the process, expected in the coming days. This brand of warship is equipped militarily and with tasks mainly in maritime defense and surveillance. It is expected that this ship, after a general service and overhaul, will be active in service for up to the next 15 years. The delivery of the ship will take place in a ceremony, which is expected to be attended by the Italian Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto. The corvette is expected to be delivered under the company of the pride of the Italian Navy, 'Amerigo Vespucci'.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Baker 1998, pp. 380–381.
  2. "Pattugliatori OPV (PG)". (In Italian) Marina Militare. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  3. Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 197.
  4. Grove 1990, p. 95.
  5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-19. Retrieved 2016-11-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

References