Italian destroyer Augusto Riboty

The ships were designed as scout cruisers (esploratori), essentially enlarged versions of contemporary destroyers.Whitley, p. 158 They had an overall length of {{convert|103.75|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a beam of {{convert|9.74|m|ftin|sp=us}} and a mean draft of {{convert|3.3|m|ftin|sp=us}}.Gray, p. 265 They displaced {{convert|1784|t|LT|lk=on}} at standard load, and {{convert|2040|t|LT}} at deep load. Their complement was eight officers and 161 enlisted men.Fraccaroli 1970, p. 51

The Mirabellos were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by four Yarrow boilers. The turbines were rated at {{convert|44000|shp|lk=on}} for a speed of {{convert|35|kn|lk=in}} and Augusto Riboty reached a speed of {{convert|35.03|kn}} from {{cvt|38962|shp}} during her sea trials. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of {{convert|2300|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|12|kn}}.

Augusto Riboty{{'}}s main battery consisted of a single QF 6-inch naval gun#Italian naval service forward of the superstructure. The gun was backed up by seven Cannon 102/35 Model 1914 in single mounts protected by gun shields, one aft the superstructure and the remaining guns positioned on the broadside amidships.McMurtrie, p. 283 Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the Mirabello-class ships was provided by a pair of Cannon 76/40 Model 1916 AA guns in single mounts. They were equipped with four {{convert|450|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us|1}} torpedo tubes in two twin mounts, one on each broadside. Augusto Riboty could carry 120 mines, although her sisters could only handle 100.

The gun proved to be too heavy for the ships and its rate of fire was too slow so it was replaced when the ships were rearmed with eight Cannone da 102/45 S, A Modello 1917 guns arranged with single guns fore and aft of the superstructure and the other on the broadside. The 76 mm guns were replaced by a pair of QF 2 pounder naval gun AA guns in single mounts in 1920–1922.

Augusto Riboty was laid down by Gio. Ansaldo & C. at Sestri Ponente, Kingdom of Italy, on 27 February 1915. She was launched on 24 September 1916 and completed and commissioned as a scout cruiser on 5 May 1917.

Stationed at Brindisi, Italy, Augusto Riboty operated in the Adriatic Sea during World War I, taking part in the Adriatic campaign. On 16 July 1917, she put to sea together with her sister ship {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Carlo Alberto Racchia||2}}}} to provide distant support for a bombing raid on Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo) on the coast of the Principality of Albania by 18 aircraft departing from Brindisi and Vlorë (known to the Italians as Valona) in Albania.{{sfn|Favre|p=195}}

On 10 March 1918, the destroyer {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Antonio Mosto||2}}}}, with the motor torpedo boat MAS 100 in tow, and the destroyer {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Ippolito Nievo||2}},}} towing MAS 99, set out for a raid on Portorož (known to the Italians as Portorose) on the coast of Austria-Hungary, supported by Augusto Riboty — serving as flagship for the commander of the operation, Contrammiraglio (Counter Admiral) Guido Biscaretti di Ruffia — her sister ship {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Carlo Mirabello||2}}}}, the scout cruisers {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian cruiser|Alessandro Poerio||2}}}} and {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian cruiser|Cesare Rossarol||2}}}}, the destroyers {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Giacinto Carini||2}}}} and {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Pilade Bronzetti||2}}}}, and a French Navy destroyer squadron led by the destroyer {{ship|French destroyer|Casque|1910|2}}. Antonio Mosto, Ippolito Nievo, MAS 99, and MAS 100 reached the vicinity of Portorož, but then had to postpone the operation due to bad weather. The ships attempted the raid again on 16 March, but adverse weather again forced its postponement. They made a third attempt on 8 April 1918, but after aerial reconnaissance ascertained that the port of Portorož was empty, the Italians again called off the operation.{{sfn|Favre|p=239}}

At 18:10 on 12 May 1918, Pilade Bronzetti, with MAS 99 in tow, and Ippolito Nievo, towing MAS 100, got underway with Augusto Riboty and Carlo Mirabello from Brindisi for a raid against the roadstead at Durrës. At 23:00, MAS 99 and MAS 100 dropped their tow cables about {{convert|10|nmi|lk=in}} from Durrës, then entered the harbor. At 02:30 on 13 May MAS 99 torpedoed the steamer {{SS|Bregenz||2}}, which sank a few minutes later with the loss of 234 men. The attack triggered a violent Austro-Hungarian reaction, but all the Italian ships returned unscathed to Brindisi.{{sfn|Favre|pp=240 et seq.}}

By late October 1918, Austria-Hungary had effectively disintegrated, and the Armistice of Villa Giusti, signed on 3 November 1918, went into effect on 4 November 1918 and brought hostilities between Austria-Hungary and the Allies to an end. After getting underway from Brindisi on 4 November, Augusto Riboty arrived at the island of Lastovo (known to the Italians as Lagosta) at 14:00 that day and took possession of it for the Kingdom of Italy.Favre, tables. The war ended a week later with the armistice between the Allies and the German Empire on 11 November 1918. During the war, Augusto Riboty took part in 52 operations.[http://www.trentoincina.it/dbunita2.php?short_name=Mirabello Trentoincina] (in Italian).

On 27 December 1918 Augusto Riboty was stationed at Split (known to the Italians as Spalato) on the coast of Dalmatia, where violence had broken out between Italians and Slavs. During her time in Split, she had orders from the Italian military governor of Dalmatia, Ammiraglio (Admiral) Enrico Millo, to provide free food and assistance to the city's population — and especially to assist and protect its Italian residents — and to document the atmosphere of ethnic hatred and violence between Italians and Slavs in central Dalmatia.L.Monzali, Italiani di Dalmazia 1914-1924, Le Lettere, Florence, Italy, 2007, pp.70–71, 80–81 (in Italian).L.Monzali, Antonio Tacconi e la comunità italiana di Spalato, Scuola Dalmata dei SS. Giorgio e Trifone, Venice, Italy, 2007, p. 113 (in Italian). Her arrival greatly irritated officials of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), and a protest demonstration against her presence greeted her as she moored at the pier.S.Salza, La marina italiana nella grande guerra, p.808 (in Italian). The situation remained very tense throughout her time at Split as Italian troops slowly took possession of territory in Dalmatia promised to the Kingdom of Italy by the Treaty of London of 1915, the border of which was close to Split, although Split itself had not been promised to Italy. As the Italian consul Marcello Roddolo, serving aboard Augusto Riboty, observed, "Our troops, who are gradually occupying the borders of the [territory promised to Italy after the] armistice, and therefore are approaching Split, make the Yugoslavs believe that our occupation of that land [i.e., Split itself] is imminent, an occupation which the Serbian units would almost certainly oppose with weapons."Cited in L. Monzali, Italiani di Dalmazia (…), op.cit. p. 74 (in Italian). After the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Puglia||2}} arrived to relieve her on station, Augusto Riboty departed Split on 12 January 1919, thus missing the worst of the violence there, which lasted until 1920.

In the 1920s, Augusto Riboty underwent modifications to her armament which saw the replacement of her 152/40 mm gun with a 102/35 Mod. 1914P. P. Ramoino in Storia Militare, No. 204, September 2010, p. 16 (in Italian). and the embarkation of two Vickers-Armstrong QF 2-pounder 40 mm automatic cannons, new hydrophones, and equipment for depth charges.[http://www.regiamarinaitaliana.it/Ct%20classe%20Mirabello.html Ct classe Mirabello] (in Italian) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218010614/http://www.regiamarinaitaliana.it/Ct%20classe%20Mirabello.html |date=18 February 2012 }}. From 17 May to 2 November 1923 her commanding officer was Capitano di navio (Ship-of-the-Line Captain) Giuseppe Cantù, a future ammiraglio di squadra (squadron admiral). Subsequently, from 4 November 1923 to 21 February 1925, she was under the command of Capitano di navio Umberto Bucci.

In 1938, Augusto Riboty was reclassified as a destroyer. Her growing obsolescence — her maximum speed had dropped to {{convert|27|kn|lk=in|0}}, and she lacked a fire-control center — led the Regia Marina to make plans to decommission her by 1940.

World War II broke out in September 1939 with Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Fascist Italy joined the war on the side of the Axis powers with its invasion of France on 10 June 1940. At the time, Augusto Riboty was based at Brindisi with Carlo Mirabello as part of the destroyer division there. The outbreak of war prompted the Regia Marina to keep Augusto Riboty in commission. Taking part in the Adriatic campaign and the broader Battle of the Mediterranean, she operated mainly on escort duty along the shipping routes in the southern Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea, escorting convoys between Italy, the Italian protectorate of Albania, and the Kingdom of Greece, although she also operated in the Strait of Sicily in the central Mediterranean Sea.

While at Brindisi in blackout conditions on 27 September 1940, Augusto Riboty collided with the destroyer {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Nicolò Zeno||2}}.}}

On 5 October 1940, Augusto Riboty left Durrës to escort the steamers {{SS|Carnia}} and {{SS|Olimpia}}. During the voyage, the British submarine {{HMS|Triton|N15|6}} torpedoed Olimpia in the Adriatic Sea in position {{coord|41|06|N|018|39|E}}, damaging her.[http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4012-25DEC01.htm U-boat Happy Time, December 1940].

Later in October 1940, Augusto Riboty and Carlo Mirabello were assigned temporarily to the Forza Navale Speciale (Special Naval Force). Tasked with occupying Corfu, the force, commanded by Ammiraglio di squadra (Squadron Admiral) Vittorio Tur, also included the light cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Bari||2}} (Tur's flagship), the light cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Taranto||2}}, the torpedo boats {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Altair||2}}, {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Andromeda||2}}, {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Angelo Bassini||2}}}}, {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Antares||2}}, {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Aretusa||2}}, {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Giacomo Medici||2}}}}, and {{nowrap|{{ship|Italian destroyer|Nicola Fabrizi||2}},}} and the tankers Garigliano, Sesia, and Tirso. Plans called for merchant ships to land the Royal Army's 47th Infantry Division "Bari" and a battalion of the Regia Marina′s Regiment "San Marco" on Corfu on 28 October 1940 — the day the Greco–Italian War broke out with Italy's invasion of Greece — but the amphibious landing was postponed due to rough seas, first to 30 October, then to 31 October, and then again to 2 November before it was cancelled because of the disappointing performance of Italian forces on the Greek front. The 47th Infantry Division "Bari" was reassigned to operations on the front in Epirus, and the merchant ships proceeded to Vlorë (known to the Italians as Valona) in Albania to disembark the division there.Pier Filippo Lupinacci, Vittorio E. Tognelli, La difesa del traffico con l'Albania, la Grecia e l'Egeo, pp. 18, 23, 27, 43, 172–173, 177, 179, 181–182, 184, 187–190, 192–194, 197, 199, 205, 226–235, 237, 239–242, 244–249, 257–267, 269–271, 277–278, 280–281, 284–288, 290, 293, 301, 303–304, 307–308, 310, 312, 315–316, 320–325, 328–331, 333, 337, 339–340, 344–347, 349, 355–357, 359, 362–363, 366–372, 374, 419, 422–423, 427–431, 433, 435, 441–443, 445, 449, 454, 461–462, 465 (in Italian).[http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4010-23OCT02.htm Mediterranean Submarines, October 1940].

On 18 December 1940, as the Greco-Italian War continued, Augusto Riboty, the light cruisers {{ship|Italian cruiser|Eugenio di Savoia||2}} and {{ship|Italian cruiser|Raimondo Montecuccoli||2}}, and the destroyers {{ship|Italian destroyer|Antonio Pigafetta||2}}, {{ship|Italian destroyer|Emanuele Pessagno||2}}, and {{ship|Italian destroyer|Nicoloso da Recco||2}} bombarded Greek positions near Corfu.[http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4012-25DEC02.htm Battle of the Atlantic, December 1940]. On 1 March 1941 she and Andromeda again bombarded Greek coastal positions.

During convoy escort operations, Augusto Riboty clashed with enemy submarines on three occasions in 1941 — on 18 July in the Adriatic Sea, on 5 August in the Ionian Sea near Zakynthos, Greece, and on 25 October off Patras, Greece.

Augusto Riboty underwent a modernization in 1942 which involved the removal of two {{convert|102|mm|0|adj=on}} guns and the installation of a 40-millimetre automatic cannons. In 1943 she was modified again: The {{convert|102|mm|0|adj=on}} guns were reduced to four, the three 40-millimetre automatic cannons were replaced by six 20-millimetre ones, and her depth-charge capacity was increased.

On 5 February 1943, Augusto Riboty was escorting the tanker Utilitas, loaded with fuel, from Taranto to Palermo, Sicily, when the British submarine {{HMS|Turbulent|N98|6}} torpedoed Utilitas at around 07:00. Utilitas sank off Capo Zafferano, east of Palermo.Rolando Notarangelo, Gian Paolo Pagano, Navi mercantili perdute, p. 511.

At 11:20 on 15 February 1943, Augusto Riboty got underway from Palermo under the command of Tenente di vascello (Ship-of-the-Line Lieutenant) Nicola Ferrone with the torpedo boats {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Monsone||2}} and {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Sirio||2}} and the corvettes

{{ship|Italian corvette|Antilope||2}} and {{ship|Italian corvette|Gabbiano||2}} to escort the steamers {{SS|Alcamo}}, {{nowrap|{{SS|Chieti to Bizerta}},}} and {{SS|Frosinone}}, but eight hours later she had to reverse course and head for Trapani, Sicily, due to engine failure. The rest of the convoy reached its destination unscathed despite an attack by Allied motor torpedo boats.Giorgio Giorgerini, La guerra italiana sul mare. La Marina tra vittoria e sconfitta 1940-1943, pp. 550-551.

On 3 April 1943, Augusto Riboty was on escort duty in the Gulf of Taranto when an Allied submarine attacked with torpedoes. She avoided one torpedo that passed near her, but the tanker Regina was hit and damaged.

On 8 September 1943, the Kingdom of Italy announced an armistice with the Allies and switched sides in the war, prompting Nazi Germany to begin Operation Achse, the disarmament by force of the Italian armed forces and the occupation of those portions of Italy not yet under Allied control. On the morning of 12 September 1943, Augusto Riboty and the submarines {{ship|Italian submarine|Atropo||2}}, {{ship|Italian submarine|Jalea||2}}, and {{ship|Italian submarine|Fratelli Bandiera||2}} got underway from Taranto and headed for Malta. Augusto Riboty reached Malta on 13 September, moored at St. Paul's Bay that afternoon, and handed herself over to the AlliesCaruana in Storia Militare, No. 204, September 2010, p. 53 (in Italian). in accordance with the armistice agreement. She then moved to Marsa Scirocco, Malta, and moored there. On 6 October 1943 she left Malta with the torpedo boats {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Ariete||2}} and {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Orione||2}}, six submarines, and two smaller vessels to return to Italy.Caruana in Storia Militare, No. 204, September 2010, pp. 54–63 (in Italian).

Augusto Riboty subsequently fought on the Allied side as a unit of the Italian Co-belligerent Navy through the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945. She escorted U.S. convoys and took part in the transportation of men and materials to the battleships {{ship|Italian battleship|Italia|1937|2}} and {{ship|Italian battleship|Vittorio Veneto||2}}, which were interned in the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal in Egypt.

Credited with participation in 365 operations and having steamed {{convert|70,350|nmi|lk=in|0}}, Augusto Riboty was the most active Italian destroyer of World War II. To honor her service in both World War I and World War II, the ship was awarded the Bronze Medal of Military Valor.

The Italian Republic replaced the Kingdom of Italy in 1946, and the name of the country's navy changed from Regia Marina (Royal Navy) to Marina Militare (literally "Military Navy"). Under the terms of the Paris Peace Treaties signed on 10 February 1947, Augusto Riboty was to be transferred to the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Navy rejected her because of her age and worn-out condition. Instead, the Marina Militare used her as a pontoon at Taranto. She was decommissioned in February 1950, stricken from the naval register on 1 May 1950, and scrapped in 1951.

106px Bronze Medal of Military Valor

{{reflist|30em}}

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• {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|authorlink=Jürgen Rohwer}}
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• [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/PQRS/riboty.aspx Augusto Riboty] Marina Militare website
• Photo of Augusto Riboty in 1942 at Italian Wikipedia

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Mirabello class destroyer}}

{{September 1940 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Augusto Riboty}}

Category:Mirabello-class destroyers

Category:Ships built in Genoa

Category:Ships built by Gio. Ansaldo & C.

Category:1916 ships

Category:Cruisers of the Regia Marina

Category:World War I cruisers of Italy

Category:World War II destroyers of Italy

Category:Maritime incidents in September 1940