Built 1942–1943 Completed 16 Type Torpedo boat | In commission 1942–1949 Lost 11 | |
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Operators Regia Marina
Kriegsmarine
Yugoslav Navy
Soviet Navy | ||
The Ciclone class were a group of torpedo boats or destroyer escorts built for the Italian Navy which fought in the Second World War. They were slightly enlarged versions of the previous Orsa class, with improved stability and heavier anti-submarine armament. These ships were built as part of the Italian war mobilization programme and completed in 1942-43.
Contents
Armament
All units were fitted with a sonar, and also torpedo launchers were present in the same quantity and placement for all units of the class. However, there were three different gun configurations in the class:
History
Units of this class were heavily operated in escort duties between Italy and Northern Africa, or in antisubmarine patrols. Some units were still incomplete when Italy signed the armistice of Cassibile, and were sabotaged by the Italians, or captured by the Germans, completed and reclassified as "Torpedoboot Ausland" (Foreign Torpedo-boat).
Aliseo, with Carlo Fecia di Cossato in command, destroyed eight German Auxiliary vessels near the port of Bastia, Corsica. For this success, di Cossato was given the highest Italian military decoration, the Gold Medal of Military Valor
Five units survived the war, to be transferred to the USSR, Greece and Yugoslavia as reparation for war damages. None was left in service with Italian Navy.