Torpedo boat Cassiopea
Class overview
Operators:	Regia Marina  Swedish Navy  Marina Militare
Preceded by:	Curtatone class
Succeeded by:	Ariete class
Built:	1934–37
In service:	1935–64
Completed:	32
Lost:	23
General characteristics
Type:	Torpedo boat
Displacement:	795 long tons (808 t) standard 1,020 long tons (1,040 t) full load
Length:	83.5 m (273 ft 11 in)
Beam:	8.1 m (26 ft 7 in)
Draught:	2.55 m (8 ft 4 in)
Installed power:	19,000 hp (14,200 kW)
Propulsion:	2 boilers, 2 steam turbines, 2 shafts
Speed:	34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h)
Complement:	116
Sensors and processing systems:	Sonar and hydrophones
Armament:	3 × 100 mm (3.9 in) 100/47 dual-purpose guns 9–11 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Breda 20/65 mod. 35 AA guns 2 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft machine guns 4 × 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes (4 × single mounts) Up to 20 mines

The Spica class were a class of torpedo boats of the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) during World War II. These ships were built as a result of a clause in the Washington Naval Treaty, which stated that ships with a tonnage of less than 600 could be built in unlimited numbers. Thirty-two ships were built between 1934 and 1937, thirty of which entered service with Italy and two which were transferred to the Swedish Navy in 1940. The two units in Swedish service were classed as destroyers until 1953, then re-classified as corvettes. Although commonly referred to as torpedo boats due to their smaller displacement, the Spica class armaments were similar in design to destroyers (their design was influenced by the Maestrale-class destroyer then in development), and were intended for anti-submarine duties, although they often had to fight aircraft and surface forces as well. Twenty-three vessels were lost during World War II.

Design[edit]

The design work started in 1932 and two prototypes, Spica and Astore, were built. The hull was 80 metres (260 ft) long and displacement was around 720 short tons (650 t) standard rather than the 600 short tons (540 t) permitted by the Washington treaty. Propulsion consisted of a two shaft geared turbine layout with two Yarrow–type boilers. The armament consisted of three 100 mm (4 in)/47 caliber dual-purpose guns in single mountings in 'A', 'X' and 'Y' positions and three or four twin 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft machine guns—later replaced by 9 to 11 Breda 20/65 modello 35 20 mm cannons in various configurations. They also carried four 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes, two for each side, which had a shorter range and a smaller warhead than the 533 mm (21 in) ones in use on destroyers.

Ships[edit]

Notes to table

• 
  ^ Bacini e Scali Napoletani, Naples
  


• 
  ^ Cantieri del Tirreno, Riva Trigoso
  


• 
  ^ Cantieri Navali Riuniti, Ancona
  


• 
  ^ Cantieri Navali del Quarnaro, Fiume
  


• 
  ^ Relettered LU in 1938

See also[edit]

• 
  Ariete-class torpedo boat, an enlarged version of the class

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• 
  Sadkovich, James (1994). The Italian Navy in World War II. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-28797-X.
  


• 
  Admiralty Historical Section, Naval Staff History (1960). Naval Operations in the Battle of Crete (BR 1732 (2) Battle Summary No. 4). Britain: Admiralty.
  


• 
  Brown, David (2002). The Royal Navy and the Mediterranean: November 1940–December 1941. Whitehall Histories. II. London: Whitehall History in association with Frank Cass. ISBN 0-7146-5205-9.
  


• 
  Director of Naval Construction (1952). H.M. Ships Damaged or Sunk by Enemy Action, 1939-1945. Britain: Admiralty.
  


• 
  Green, Jack; Massignani, Alessandro (1998). The Naval War in the Mediterranean, 1940–1943. London: Chatam Publishing. ISBN 1-885119-61-5.
  


• 
  Pack, S.W.C. (1973). The Battle for Crete. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-810-7.
  


• 
  Roskill, S. W. (1957) [1954]. Butler, J. R. M., ed. War at Sea. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. I (4th ed.). London: HMSO. OCLC 881709135. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  


• 
  Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian; Malizia, Nicola (1987). Air War For Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete 1940–41. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-07-0.
  


• 
  Whitley, M.J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Cassell Publishing. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
  


• 
  Fioravanzo; Pollina; Ricciardi; Gnifetti (1971). I cacciatorpediniere italiani, 1900–1971. Le navi d'Italia (in Italian). V. Rome: Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare.
  

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Romulus class destroyer.

• 
  History of the class at italie1935-45.com (in French)
  


• Diving around the wreck of Aldebaran