Italian destroyer Corazziere (1909)

Last updated
History
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg Italy
NameCorazziere
Namesake Cuirassier, a cavalryman equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols
Builder Gio. Ansaldo & C., Genoa, Kingdom of Italy
Laid down23 October 1905
Launched11 December 1909
Completed16 May 1910
Commissioned1910
Stricken1 June 1928
FateScrapped
General characteristics [1]
Displacement395–424 long tons (401–431 t)
Length
  • 64.4 m (211 ft 3 in) wl
  • 65.0 m (213 ft 3 in) oa
Beam6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Draught2.1 m (6 ft 11 in)
Propulsion
Speed28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph)
Complement55
Armament

Corazziere ("Cuirassier") was a Soldato-class ("Soldier"-class) destroyer of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy). Commissioned in 1910, she served in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I . She was stricken in 1928.

Contents

Design

Corazziere was powered by two sets of triple expansion steam engines fed by three Thornycroft water-tube boilers, producing an estimated 6,000 indicated horsepower (4,474  kW ) and driving two propeller shafts. As built, she could reach a maximum speed of 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph). Originally, she had a fuel capacity of 95 tonnes (93 long tons ) of coal, giving her a range of 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) and 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) at 23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph); she later was converted to burn fuel oil, with a fuel capacity of 65 tonnes (64 long tons ) of oil. She was fitted with four 76-millimetre (3 in)/40 calibre guns and three 450-millimetre (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Construction and commissioning

Corazziere was laid down on 23 October 1905 at the Gio. Ansaldo & C. shipyard in Genoa, Italy. She was launched on 11 December 1909 and completed on 16 May 1910. [1] She was commissioned in 1910.

Service history

Italo-Turkish War

The Italo-Turkish War began on 29 September 1911 with the Kingdom of Italy′s declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire. At the time, Corazziere was in reserve at Taranto [5] . One of the first clashes of the war, the Battle of Preveza, began on the afternoon of 29 September, when a force of Italian ships engaged Ottoman torpedo boats off what was then the Ionian Sea of the Ottoman Empire.

Corazziere joined the battle on its second day when, according to some sources, she was operating off Igoumenitsa with other Italian ships on the morning of 30 September 1911 and the Italians sighted a force of Ottoman torpedo boats leaving the port of Preveza. When they reported the sighting to higher command, they received orders to let the torpedo boats move away from the coast and then, taking advantage of the greater speed of the Italian ships, close with them and sink them. [6] The Italian ships managed to surround the torpedo boats, which at that point attempted to escape at full steam towards the south instead of heading back toward Preveza. [6] The Italians found this suspicious, and while Corazziere and her sister ship Artigliere pursued the torpedo boats, the destroyer Alpino steamed north to conduct a reconnaissance of the approaches to Preveza, where she discovered steamers attempting to reach Prevenza while the Ottoman torpedo boats distracted the Italian ships, and she seized one of the steamers. [6] [7] Meanwhile, Corazziere and Artigliere closed with the Ottoman torpedo boats, which opened fire ineffectively. Corazziere and Artigliere returned fire, reducing the torpedo boats Alpagot [8] and Hamidiye [9] to wrecks and inducing an ammuniton magazine explosion aboard one of them. The two torpedo boats struggled back to port and sank there, and the two Italian destroyers rescued some members of their crews. [6] Those members of their crews who reached a nearby beach opened rifle fire on the two Italian destroyers, [7] which returned fire and silenced them. Other Ottoman torpedo boats that had been operating with Alpagot and Hamidiye returned safely to port. Meanwhile, Corazziere and Artigliere captured the armed yacht Teties (referred to as "Thetis" or "Tarabulus" in some sources); the yacht later was incorporated into the Regia Marina as the gunboat Capitano Verri. [7] [10] [11]

In a 1912 magazine article [12] and a 1913 book [13] based on contemporary sources, United States Navy Commodore W. H. Beehler offers a different version of the events of 30 September 1911. He states that an officer from Corazziere went ashore at Prevenza on the evening of 29 September 1911 and ascertained the positions at which Alpagot and Hamidiye were anchored, which he reported to Capitano di fregata (Frigate Captain) Guido Biscaretti di Ruffia, the commanding officer of Artigliere and a future ammiraglio di squadra (squadron admiral). Artigliere and Corazziere penetrated the harbor on the morning of 30 September, where they sank Alpagot and Hamidiye with gunfire while they were at anchor; all but one man from the two torpedo boats' crews escaped to shore. [13] Corazziere then made preparations to tow the armed yacht "Telied" away as a prize, and a "mob" on shore opened fire on her. She returned fire, silencing the mob and damaging the fort at Prevenza, which did not fire during the battle. The two destroyers then put back to sea with the yacht in tow, having fired 76 shells in an engagement lasting 45 minutes. [13]

The historian Charles Stephenson offers yet another version of events. According to him, the Italians decided not to attempt an incursion into the harbor at Preveza to attack the Ottoman torpedo boat Antalya, which had reached that port at the end of the first day of the battle on 29 September, [14] and instead proceeded to the waters off Igoumenitsa, [lower-alpha 1] where Alpagot and Hamidiye were anchored in the harbor. Corazziere, Alpino, and Artigliere then penetrated the harbor at Igoumenitsa on the morning of 30 September, where Artigliere and Corazziere sank Alpagot and Hamidiye with gunfire while they still were at anchor. Meanwhile, Alpino came alongside the armed yacht "Trablus," whose boilers were under repair. The yacht's crew opened her seacocks in an attempt to scuttle her and abandoned ship. Alpino sent a boarding party aboard the yacht and closed the seacocks to prevent her from sinking. The Alpino crewmen were cutting the yacht's mooring lines when civilians on shore opened fire on the boarding party, prompting Corazziere to bombard the town, silencing the civilian gunfire and damaging the fort at Igoumenitsa, which did not fire during the battle. Alpino then towed the yacht out of port. [15] [16]

The war ended on 18 October 1912 in an Italian victory.

World War I

World War I broke out in 1914, and Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies with its declaration of war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915. At the time, Artigliere, under the command of Capitano di corvetta (Corvette Captain) Failla, was part of the 3rd Destroyer Squadron, based at Brindisi, which also included Artigliere and their sister ships Bersagliere, Garibaldino, and Lanciere. [17] In the predawn hours of 24 May 1915, Corazziere and Bersagliere entered the waters off Grado to support the raid on Porto Buso, an incursion by the destroyer Zeffiro against the Austro-Hungarian border outpost on the island of Porto Buso in the Grado Lagoon, a part of the larger Marano Lagoon. While Zeffiro attacked the island, Corazziere and Bersagliere guarded against interference by Austro-Hungarian Navy ships and bombarded Austro-Hungarian positions. [17]

On 29 May 1915 Artigliere, Bersagliere, Garibaldino, and Lanciere bombarded the Adria Werke chemical plant in Monfalcone, a production site for poison gases, while Corazziere, Alpino, and their sister ship Pontiere provided support. [17] The ships carried out another bombardment of the Adria Werke on 7 June 1915. [17]

On 23 February 1916, under the command of Capitano di corvetta (Corvette Captain) Bernotti, Corazziere joined Bersagliere and Garibaldino in escorting 12 steamers and two tugs to Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo) on the coast of the Principality of Albania. [17]

Corazziere continued her World War I service without participating in any other significant events. By late October 1918, Austria-Hungary had effectively disintegrated, and the Armistice of Villa Giusti, signed on 3 November 1918, went into effect on 4 November 1918 and brought hostilities between Austria-Hungary and the Allies to an end. World War I ended a week later with an armistice between the Allies and the German Empire on 11 November 1918.

Post-World War I

Corazziere was reclassified as a torpedo boat on 1 July 1921. She was stricken from the naval register on 1 June 1928 [18] [3] and subsequently scrapped.

Notes

  1. Beehler states that the incident took place at Prevesa, not Igoumenitsa, [13] which is contradicted by Stephenson and as well as Bernd Langensiepen and Ahmet Güleryüz, who agree that it took place at Igoumenitsa. [15] [16] That Beehler makes no mention of Antalya in the engagement of 30 September 1911 suggests he is incorrect. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Preveza (1911)</span> A battle that occurred during the Italo-Turkish War in 1911

The Battle of Preveza was the first naval engagement fought during the Italo-Turkish War, which took place in the Ionian Sea on 29–30 September 1911. The action took part in two separate engagements, the first off Preveza, and the second at Gomenítza the following day. Five Italian destroyers encountered a pair of Ottoman torpedo boats off the port of Preveza on 29 September and forced one aground; the second fled into the safety of Preveza. The next day, the Italian destroyers raided Gomenítza, where another two torpedo boats and an armed yacht were at anchor. The Italians sank both torpedo boats and seized the yacht as a prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kunfuda Bay</span> Naval battle of the Italo-Turkish War

The Battle of Kunfuda Bay was a naval battle of the Italo-Turkish War between small squadrons of the Italian and Ottoman navies. On 7 January 1912, the Italian protected cruiser Piemonte and the Soldato-class destroyers Artigliere and Garibaldino, cruising the Red Sea, discovered six Ottoman gunboats, a tugboat, and a yacht in the harbor at Kunfuda. The vessels engaged for over three hours and five Ottoman vessels were sunk and four dhows were captured. Three of the gunboats were damaged during the battle and grounded on the beach to prevent them from sinking. The following morning, the Italian vessels returned to destroy the remaining three vessels; the yacht, which had been sunk, was later salvaged and seized by Italy. After the battle, the Italian squadron in the Red Sea was able to proclaim a blockade of Ottoman ports in the Red Sea and frequently bombarded Ottoman positions for the rest of the war.

Ottoman cruiser <i>Berk-i Satvet</i> Torpedo cruiser of the Ottoman Navy

Berk-i Satvet was a torpedo cruiser of the Ottoman Navy, the second and final member of the Peyk-i Şevket class. She was built by the Germaniawerft shipyard in Germany in 1906–1907, and was delivered to the Ottoman Navy in November 1907. The ship's primary armament consisted of three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes and a pair of 105 mm (4.1 in) guns, and she was capable of a top speed of 21 knots. The ship's early career was uneventful; the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912 passed without any action of the Ottoman fleet. Berk-i Satvet saw action during the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 in the Aegean and Black Seas, against Greek and Bulgarian opponents, respectively.

Soldato-class destroyer

The Soldato class was a class of destroyers of the Italian Regia Marina built by Ansaldo of Genoa prior to the First World War. Ten were built for the Regia Marina between 1905 and 1910, while an eleventh ship was built for China but purchased by Italy before completion. They served during the First World War, where one was lost, with the remaining ships sold for scrap in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Italian cruiser <i>Aretusa</i> Torpedo cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy

Aretusa was a torpedo cruiser of the Partenope class built for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1880s. Laid down in June 1889 at the Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando shipyard, she was launched in March 1891 and was commissioned in September 1892. Her main armament were her six torpedo tubes, which were supported by a battery of ten small-caliber guns. Aretusa spent most of her career in the main Italian fleet, where she was primarily occupied with training exercises. At the start of the Italo-Turkish War in September 1911, she was assigned to the Red Sea Squadron in Italian Eritrea. She bombarded Ottoman positions in the Arabian Peninsula and took part in a blockade of the coast. Worn out by the end of the war in October 1912, Aretusa was sold for scrap that December and broken up.

Italian destroyer <i>Carabiniere</i> (1909) Italian Soldato-class destroyer

Carabinere ("Carabinier") was a Soldato-class ("Soldier"-class) destroyer of the Italian Regia Marina. Commissioned in 1910, she served in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1921, she was stricken in 1925.

Nümune-i Hamiyet, originally built as SMS S167, was one of the four S138-class torpedo boats built for the German Imperial Navy, but was purchased for the Ottoman Navy during construction.

Gayret-i Vataniye originally built as SMS S168, was one of the four S138-class torpedo boats built for the German Imperial Navy, but was purchased for the Ottoman Navy during construction.

Yarhisar was one of the four Samsun-class destroyers, based on the Durandal class, purchased from France in 1907 by the Ottoman Navy Society. She joined the Ottoman Navy in 1907, but like the rest of the Ottoman fleet, she did not take part in any active engagement with the Italians during the Italo-Turkish war. During the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, she took part in all major engagements such as the battles of Kaliakra, Elli and Lemnos, as well as patrol missions. During World War I, she took part in escort and interception missions, especially in the Sea of Marmara. She engaged in many battles with Allied submarines entering the Sea of Marmara. On 3 December 1915, she was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS E11 off the coast of Yalova. 7 officers and 33 enlisted men were killed in the sinking. The submarine picked up the remaining crew from the sea and delivered them to a nearby sailing ship.

Ottoman torpedo boat <i>Alpagot</i> Ottoman torpedo boat

Alpagot was one of the two Akhisar-class torpedo boats built in Italy for the Ottoman Navy in the early 20th century. The ship was launched on April 30, 1904 at the Ansaldo shipyard in Genoa, and was commissioned in June 1904. She took part in the Italo-Turkish War, during which she was sunk in Preveza on September 30, 1911.

Italian destroyer <i>Zeffiro</i> (1904) Italian Nembo-class destroyer

Zeffiro ("Zephyr") was an Italian Nembo-class destroyer. Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina in 1905, she served in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I, playing an active role in the Adriatic campaign. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1921, she was decommissioned in 1924.

Italian destroyer <i>Alpino</i> (1909) Italian Soldato-class destroyer

Alpino was a Soldato-class ("Soldier"-class) destroyer of the Italian Regia Marina. Commissioned in 1910, she served actively in the Italo-Turkish War, operating in the Ionian, Aegean, and Red Seas. During World War I she initially operated in the upper Adriatic Sea, conducting reconnaissance and minelaying operations and supporting actions by motor torpedo boats and aircraft. She subsequently operated in the southern Adriatic and the Ionian Sea, where she was assigned to escort operations and patrolling the Otranto Barrage in the Strait of Otranto. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1921, she was stricken in 1928.

Pontiere ("Bridgeman") was a Soldato-class ("Soldier"-class) destroyer of the Italian Regia Marina. Commissioned in 1910, she served in World War I. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1921, she was stricken in 1929.

Italian destroyer <i>Garibaldino</i> Italian Soldato-class destroyer

Garibaldino was a Soldato-class ("Soldier"-class) destroyer of the Italian Regia Marina. Commissioned in 1910, she served in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I. During the latter conflict she sank after a collision in 1918.

Italian destroyer <i>Artigliere</i> (1907) Italian Soldato-class destroyer

Artigliere was a Soldato-class ("Soldier"-class) destroyer of the Italian Regia Marina. Commissioned in 1907, she served in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I. She was stricken in 1923.

Italian destroyer <i>Bersagliere</i> (1906) Italian Soldato-class destroyer

Bersagliere was the lead ship of the Soldato-class ("Soldier"-class) destroyers of the Italian Regia Marina. Commissioned in 1907, she served in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I. She was stricken in 1923.

Lanciere ("Lancer") was a Soldato-class ("Soldier"-class) destroyer of the Italian Regia Marina. Commissioned in 1907, she served in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I. She was stricken in 1923.

Italian destroyer <i>Granatiere</i> (1906) Italian Soldato-class destroyer

Granatiere ("Grenadier") was a Soldato-class ("Soldier"-class) destroyer of the Italian Regia Marina. Commissioned in 1907, she served in the Italo-Turkish War and World War I. She was stricken in 1927.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Fraccaroli 1985, p. 268.
  2. Fraccaroli 1970, p. 67.
  3. 1 2 Marina Militare (in Italian).
  4. Soldati type 1st group destroyers (Artigliere, 1907 - 1910) - Regia Marina (Italy).
  5. Beehler 1913, pp. 9–10.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "rassegnastampa.difesa.it" (PDF). February 2018. InternetArchiveBot.
  7. 1 2 3 La Guerra Italo Turca - Betasom - XI Gruppo Sommergibili Atlantici (in Italian).
  8. "TDT Alpagot - Warships 1900-1950" (in Czech and English). Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  9. "Hamidiye - Warships 1900-1950" (in Czech and English). Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  10. anmi taranto Archived 10 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine .
  11. Navi idrografiche - Italian hydrographic ships Archived 3 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine .
  12. Beehler, W. H. (June 1912). "The Italian-Turkish War". Proceedings . Vol. 38/2/142. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Beehler 1913, p. 22.
  14. "TDT Antalya - Warships 1900-1950]". November 2017. InternetArchiveBot.
  15. 1 2 Stephenson, p. 54.
  16. 1 2 Langensiepen & Güleryüz 1995, p. 15.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Favre, pp. 67, 70, 98, 172..
  18. Fraccaroli 1985, p. 286.

Bibliography