Class overview
Builders
Operators Regia Marina
Preceded bySirio class
Succeeded byOrione class
Built1904–1909
In commission1905–1927
Completed18
Lost2
Retired16
General characteristics [1]
TypeHigh-Seas Torpedo boat
Displacement
  • 210 t (210 long tons) (Perseo series)
  • 216.5 t (213.1 long tons) (Cigno and Alcione series)
Length
  • 50.05 m (164 ft 2 in) pp
  • 50.35 m (165 ft 2 in) oa
Beam5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
Draught1.725–1.775 m (5 ft 7.9 in – 5 ft 9.9 in)
Propulsion
Speed25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range300–350 nmi (350–400 mi; 560–650 km) at full speed
Complement3 officer + 32–39 men
Armament

The Pegaso class was a class of 18 Italian sea-going steam-powered torpedo boats built between 1904 and 1909. They served in the Italo-Turkish War and the First World War, when one was sunk, and continued in use until the 1920s.

Design

In 1904, four High-Seas Torpedo Boats were laid down at the Pattison shipyard of Naples, to a design licensed from the British shipbuilder Thornycroft.[2][3] They were powered by two triple expansion steam engines fed by two Thornycroft coal-fired water-tube boilers which gave 2,900–3,279 ihp (2,163–2,445 kW) driving two shafts and allowing the contract speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) to be reached. Two funnels were fitted. Torpedo armament consisted of three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, with a gun armament of two 57 mm/43 guns and one 47 mm/43 gun.[4][5][lower-alpha 1]

While these four ships (known as the Perseo series) were built, launching and completing in 1905–06,[5] work began on two further batches, with eight more being ordered from Pattison (the Cigno series) and six from Odero, Sestri (the Alcione series). These ships were built with thicker plating than those of the Perseo series, and so were slightly heavier (displacing 216.5 t (213.1 long tons) compared with 210 t (210 long tons) for the earlier ships).[1][6] Two of the Cignos, Calipso and Climene were fitted with oil fired boilers during construction,[3] while six more ships (Pallade, Pegaso, Procione, Airone, Alcione and Ardea) were converted to oil fuel between 1908 and 1913.[1]

The ships were re-armed during the First World War, with the Perseo and Cigno series replacing their armament with two 76 mm (3 in)/40 guns, one 13.2 mm machine gun and two 450 mm torpedo tubes. The Alcione series' new armament differed in that one of the 76 mm guns was an anti-aircraft gun.[1]

Service

In September 1911, the Italo-Turkish War broke out. The Italian Navy, including its torpedo boats, was highly active during the war. Actions involving the Pegaso class included Cigno carrying out shore bombardment along with larger units of the fleet in support of Italian land forces near Tripoli in November 1911,[7] and a reconnaissance of the Dardanelles by five torpedo boats (the Sirio-class ship Spica and four Pegaso-class ships, Perseo, Astore, Climene and Centauro).[8]

Several of the Pegaso class were used as high-speed minesweepers during the First World War.[6] Perseo collided with sister ship Astore on 6 February 1917, and sunk when one of its torpedoes exploded.[2] Arpia struck the wreck of the Neapolitan frigate Torquato Tasso (which had sunk off Porto d'Ascoli in 1861) on 17 January 1918. It sustained major damage and sank in shallow water, but was raised and repaired, re-entering service in July 1918.[6][9]

The surviving vessels were discarded from 1923 to 1927.[1]

Ships

Perseo series

Construction data (Perseo series)
Ship Builder [2] Laid down [2] Launched [2] Completed [2] Operational history
Perseo Pattison, Naples 10 August 1904 5 December 1905 26 August 1906 Sank 6 February 1917 following collision with torpedo boat Astore off Stromboli[4]
Pegaso Pattison, Naples 13 August 1904 12 August 1905 23 September 1906 Discarded 4 March 1923[2]
Procione Pattison, Naples 23 August 1904 16 December 1905 26 September 1906 Converted to minesweeper 1917; Discarded 17 April 1923[2]
Pallade Pattison, Naples 25 August 1904 1 June 1906 26 September 1906 Discarded 4 March 1923[2]

Cigno series

Construction data (Cigno series)
Ship Builder [10] Laid down [10] Launched [10] Completed [10] Operational history
Cigno Pattison, Naples 17 April 1905 9 May 1906 26 September 1906 Discarded 4 March 1923[10]
Cassiopea Pattison, Naples 28 April 1905 7 July 1906 26 September 1906 Minesweeper 1917–18; Discarded 27 November 1927[10]
Centauro Pattison, Naples 21 June 1905 20 December 1906 26 May 1907 Ran aground off Antalya, Turkey 5 November 1921 and sank[6]
Clio Pattison, Naples 27 July 1905 20 October 1906 17 April 1907 Discarded 4 March 1923[10]
Canopo Pattison, Naples 22 August 1905 28 February 1907 22 June 1907 Discarded 4 March 1923[10]
Calliope Pattison, Naples 28 September 1905 7 August 1906 22 December 1906 Discarded 13 November 1924[10]
Calipso Pattison, Naples January 1908 26 April 1909 16 July 1909 Discarded 1 September 1927[10]
Climene Pattison, Naples January 1908 15 May 1909 16 August 1909 Discarded 25 July 1927[10]

Alcione series

Construction data (Alcione series)
Ship Builder [11] Laid down [11] Launched [11] Completed [11] Operational history
Alcione Odero, Sestri 18 August 1905 13 September 1906 1 August 1907 Minesweeper 1917; Discarded 4 March 1923[11]
Ardea Odero, Sestri 18 August 1905 10 January 1907 23 May 1907 Discarded 4 March 1923[11]
Albatros Odero, Sestri 18 August 1905 22 January 1907 14 August 1907 Discarded 4 March 1923[11]
Airone Odero, Sestri 19 April 1906 13 May 1907 28 November 1907 Minesweeper 1918; Sank Austro-Hungarian submarine U-23 in Strait of Otranto using explosive paravane, 21 February 1918;[12][13] Discarded 25 September 1923[11]
Astore Odero, Sestri 19 April 1906 22 June 1907 27 January 1908 Discarded 14 June 1923[11]
Arpia Odero, Sestri 8 June 1906 22 August 1907 25 April 1908 Struck wreckage off Porto d'Ascoli and sunk 17 January 1918; Salvaged and repaired, recommissioned 25 July 1918;[6] Discarded 15 March 1923[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ An additional six High Seas Torpedo Boats were ordered from the German shipyard Schichau-Werke in 1904. These ships, which were of similar size and capabilities to the Pegaso class, became the Sirio class.[4][5]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Fraccaroli 1970, pp. 78, 80–81.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Fraccaroli 1970, p. 80.
  3. 1 2 "Sezione Torpediniere: Sottosezione Torpediniere di alto mare: Classe Pegaso". Marina Militare (Italian Navy). Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 359.
  5. 1 2 3 Fraccaroli 1970, p. 78.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 272.
  7. ↑ Beehler 1913, p. 35.
  8. ↑ Beehler 1913, pp. 87–90.
  9. ↑ Fraccaroli 1970, p. 82.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Fraccaroli 1970, pp. 80–81.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fraccaroli 1970, pp. 81–82.
  12. ↑ Greger 1976, p. 76.
  13. ↑ Grant 1964, p. 163.

References

  • Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War, Sept. 29, 1911 to Oct. 18, 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Advertiser-Republican.
  • Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
  • Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War 1. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0105-7.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • Grant, Robert M. (1964). U-Boats Destroyed: The Effect of Anti-Submarine Warfare 1914–1918. London: Putnam.
  • Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0623-7.
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