The Indomito class was a class of destroyers of the Italian Royal Navy (Italian: Règia Marina) before and during World War I. Eight were built, six of which at Naples by Societa Pattison, between 1910 and 1913. They were the first large Italian destroyers and the first fitted with steam turbines. The class is sometimes also called the I class. Two of the class were sunk during World War I, but the four surviving ships remained in service until 1937–38. One of the class, Insidioso, was reinstated during World War II and served in the Règia Marina and the German Kriegsmarine before being sunk by U.S. aircraft in late 1944.
The Indomito class was designed by Luigi Scaglia of Societa Pattison of Naples. The boats were the first large destroyers of the Règia Marina and the first fitted with steam turbines. The Indomito class were the first in the progression of Italian destroyers to be called either tre pipe or tre canne for their three funnels.[1][Note 1]
The ships were 237 feet 11 inches (72.52 m) at the waterline (239 feet 6 inches (73.00 m) overall) with a beam of 24 feet (7.3 m) and a draft of 7 feet 11 inches (2.41 m). They had twin shafts driven by two Tosi steam turbines that were fired by four Thornycroft boilers. The drivetrain was designed for a power output of 16,000 horsepower (12,000 kW) to move the ships at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), but had a maximum output of 17,620 shaft horsepower (13,140 kW) which propelled the ships at 35.79 knots (66.28 km/h).[1]
As built, the ships were armed with one 4.7 in (120 mm)/40 gun, four 3 in (76 mm)/40 guns, and two 17.7 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes. In 1914 they were augmented with an additional two torpedo tubes. During World War I, guide rails for laying up to ten mines were added to the ships. Later wartime changes replaced all the guns with five 4 in (100 mm)/35 and a single 40 mm (1.6 in)/39 AA gun. Oil capacity was also increased during the war from 100 metric tons (110 short tons) to 128 metric tons (141 short tons) in order to increase endurance, but the increased weight had the opposite effect: slowing the ships and reduced their endurance.[1]
All of the Indomito class saw action during World War I, with two of the ships, Impetuoso and Intrepido, sunk during the war. The remaining four ships all survived the war and were reclassified as torpedo boats in 1929. The remaining four ships were stricken 1937–38. Insidioso, however, was reinstated on 1 March 1941. Reduced to two funnels and rearmed, she served as a target ship, a convoy escort, and served in an anti-submarine warfare role. She was scuttled by her crew on 10 September 1943 at Pola, but was raised by the Germans who commissioned her as Wildfang on 8 November. Wildfang, the last surviving member of the Indomito class, was sunk by U.S. aircraft on 5 November 1944 after just under one year of German service.[1]
Media related to Indomito class destroyer at Wikimedia Commons
