Italian destroyer Carabiniere (1909)
| Company type | Destroyer (later reclassified as torpedo boat) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Naval military vessel |
| Founded | 26 January 1910 |
| Headquarters | Genoa , Italy |
| Products | Military naval ship |
Carabiniere—named after the Carabinier, a soldier armed with a carbine—was a Error: {{sclass2}} missing required parameter: ship type (help) destroyer that served in the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy). Entering service in 1910, she participated in the Italo-Turkish War and later in World War I. In 1921, her classification was changed to that of a torpedo boat, and she was officially removed from the naval register in 1925.
Design
The propulsion system of Carabiniere consisted of two vertical triple-expansion steam engines powered by three Thornycroft water-tube boilers, generating approximately 6,000 indicated horsepower (4,500 kW) to drive two propeller shafts. Upon completion, her top speed reached 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph). She carried about 65 tonnes (64 long tons; 72 short tons) of fuel oil, which enabled an operational range of roughly 1,600 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) cruising at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Her armament included four 76 mm (3-inch)/40 caliber quick-firing guns and three torpedo tubes with a diameter of 450 mm (17.7 inches).
Construction and commissioning
The keel of Carabiniere was laid on 7 November 1905 at the Gio. Ansaldo & C. shipyard located in Genoa, Italy. She was launched on 12 October 1909 and her construction was finalized by 26 January 1910. The vessel officially entered service in 1910.
Motto
Originally, the ship bore the same motto as Italy's national gendarmerie, the Carabinieri: Usi obey tacendo e tacendo morir ("It is customary to obey in silence and to die in silence"), a phrase derived from Costantino Nigra’s 1861 poem La rassegna di Novara ("The Review of Novara"). In 1914, marking the centennial of the Carabinieri, a new motto was adopted: Nei secoli fedele ("Forever faithful"). The destroyer embraced this updated motto, which subsequently became emblematic for later Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") and Marina Militare (Italian Navy) vessels named Carabiniere.
Italo-Turkish War
The conflict known as the Italo-Turkish War commenced on 29 September 1911 when the Kingdom of Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire. At that time, Carabiniere was assigned to the 3rd Destroyer Division of the 2nd Squadron, alongside her sister ships Alpino, Fuciliere, and Pontiere. On the afternoon of 29 September, she participated in one of the earliest engagements of the war—the Battle of Preveza. During this battle, Carabiniere, together with Alpino, destroyers Artigliere and Zeffiro, and the torpedo boat Spica, confronted Ottoman torpedo boats Antalya and Tokad as they attempted to depart from Preveza, then part of the Ottoman Ionian Sea coast.
The Italian flotilla launched their attack at 14:00. The destroyer Artigliere inflicted heavy damage on Tokad, pursuing her into anchorage as she sought to return to Preveza. Simultaneously, Carabiniere, along with Alpino, Spica, and Zeffiro, encircled Antalya. Severely hit, ablaze, with four fatalities and numerous wounded among her crew, Antalya surrendered and ran aground on a nearby beach. As her crew abandoned ship, personnel from Alpino boarded and seized her, removing her flag and only operational gun before finishing her off with gunfire. Subsequently, these Italian vessels joined with Artigliere in the harbor to sink both Tokad and an Ottoman gunboat. As the Italian ships withdrew, crew members aboard the Greek steamer Marte cheered their departure.
An alternate account was provided by United States Navy Commodore W. H. Beehler in a 1912 article and a 1913 publication based on contemporary reports. According to Beehler’s version, at either 15:00 or 16:00 on 29 September, Italian forces spotted Ottoman torpedo boats moving north-northwest between Corfu and Preveza in the Ionian Sea. Opening fire first, the Italians encountered only weak return fire. Three Italian destroyers pursued Tokad northward while two chased Antalya southward. After sustaining fifteen hits and catching fire, Tokad grounded near Nicopolis where she was destroyed; her commanding officer along with eight sailors were killed or drowned. Conversely, Antalya reached Preveza unharmed. The Italian destroyers remained undamaged after firing approximately one hundred 76-millimeter rounds during this engagement.
On 5 October 1911, a motorboat launched from the destroyer Artigliere, which had been investigating an Austro-Hungarian mail steamer in Shëngjin harbor (referred to by Italians as San Giovanni de Medua) along Albania’s coast, came under artillery fire from an earthwork position. In response, Artigliere shelled the earthwork for forty-five minutes until its guns were silenced and several buildings in Shëngjin were damaged; she sustained minor damage before exhausting her ammunition supply. Shortly thereafter, Carabiniere arrived and delivered a twenty-minute bombardment against the same earthwork prior to withdrawing.
The conflict concluded with an Italian victory on 18 October 1912.
World War I
The outbreak of World War I occurred in 1914, and Italy joined the conflict alongside the Allies by declaring war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915. At that time, Carabiniere, commanded by Capitano di fregata V. Piazza, served as the flagship of the 4th Destroyer Squadron, stationed at Brindisi. This squadron also comprised Alpino, Zeffiro, and the destroyers Ascaro, Fuciliere, and Pontiere.[1] On 24 May 1915, one day after Italy's entry into the war, Carabiniere, Alpino, and Fuciliere, along with their sister ships Garibaldino and Lanciere, conducted a patrol mission in the northern Adriatic Sea.[1]
By 11 February 1917, under the leadership of an officer named Gais, Carabiniere operated alongside Alpino, Fuciliere, Pontiere, the torpedo boats 19 OS, 20 OS, 21 OS, and 22 OS, as well as six French aircraft. Together they escorted and supported a reconnaissance mission involving two French and three Italian seaplanes targeting the Austro-Hungarian Navy base at Pola.[1]
During the night spanning 13–14 August 1917, Carabiniere departed from Venice accompanied by Pontiere and the destroyers Animoso, Ardente, Audace, Francesco Stocco, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Giuseppe Sirtori, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini with the objective of intercepting an Austro-Hungarian flotilla consisting of the destroyers Dinara, Reka, Sharfschutze, Streiter, and Velebit plus six torpedo boats. This enemy group had executed an air raid involving 32 aircraft against Venice's fortress, resulting in damage to San Giovanni e Paolo Hospital and causing 14 fatalities along with approximately 30 injuries. Only Vincenzo Giordano Orsini briefly engaged with the Austro-Hungarian vessels before they evaded capture.[1]
On 24 September 1917, Carabiniere, together with Pontiere and Zeffiro, set sail from Venice to support Italian coastal torpedo boats 9 PN, 10 PN, 11 PN, and 12 PN during an encounter with four Austro-Hungarian Navy destroyers. The skirmish concluded after Italian aircraft intervened, prompting the Austro-Hungarian vessels to retreat before any direct engagement with the Italian destroyers could occur.[1]
By late October 1918, Austria-Hungary was effectively collapsing. The Armistice of Villa Giusti, signed on 3 November 1918 and implemented on 4 November 1918, ended hostilities between Austria-Hungary and the Allies. The conclusion of World War I followed shortly thereafter with an armistice between the Allies and the German Empire on 11 November 1918.
Post-World War I
Following the conclusion of World War I, Carabiniere was deployed at different intervals to locations including Split (referred to as Spalato by Italians), Trogir (known in Italian as Traù), Dubrovnik (called Ragusa by Italians), and Korčula (Italian: Curzola). This deployment was a response to the strained relations between Italian communities and the inhabitants of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes—renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929—which encompassed events such as the 1918–1920 unrest in Split. On 1 July 1921, Carabiniere was redesignated as a torpedo boat. The vessel was officially removed from the naval register on 7 May 1925, decommissioned on the same day, and subsequently dismantled.
References
Bibliography
- Beehler, W. H. (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War, September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912 (PDF). Annapolis, Maryland: William H. Beehler. (reprinted from Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute with additions)
- Favre, Franco. La Marina nella Grande Guerra. Le operazioni navali, aeree, subacquee e terrestri in Adriatico (in italiano).
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8.