Pegaso-class torpedo boat

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.marina.difesa.it/storiacultura/storia/almanacco/Pagine/torpediniere/pegaso_classe.aspx|title=Sezione Torpediniere: Sottosezione Torpediniere di alto mare: Classe Pegaso|publisher=Marina Militare (Italian Navy)|accessdate=8 December 2013}} They were powered by two triple expansion steam engines fed by two Thornycroft coal-fired water-tube boilers which gave {{convert|2900|-|3279|ihp|kW|abbr=on|lk=in}} driving two shafts and allowing the contract speed of {{convert|25|kn}} to be reached. Two funnels were fitted. Torpedo armament consisted of three {{convert|450|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes, with a gun armament of two 57 mm/43 guns and one 47 mm/43 gun.Fraccaroli 1970, p. 78.{{#tag:ref|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.|group=lower-alpha}}

While these four ships (known as the Perseo series) were built, launching and completing in 1905–06, 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 {{convert|216.5|t|LT|lk=on|abbr=on}} compared with {{convert|210|t|LT|abbr=on}} for the earlier ships).Fraccaroli 1970, pp. 78, 80–81. Two of the Cignos, Calipso and Climene were fitted with oil fired boilers during construction, while six more ships (Pallade, Pegaso, Procione, Airone, Alcione and Ardea) were converted to oil fuel between 1908 and 1913.

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.

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,Beehler 1913, p. 35. 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).Beehler 1913, pp. 87–90.

Several of the Pegaso class were used as high-speed minesweepers during the First World War. Perseo collided with sister ship Astore on 6 February 1917, and sunk when one of its torpedoes exploded. 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.Fraccaroli 1970, p. 82.

The surviving vessels were discarded from 1923 to 1927.

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• {{cite book|last=Beehler|first=William Henry|title=The History of the Italian-Turkish War, Sept. 29, 1911 to Oct. 18, 1912|year=1913|publisher=Advertiser-Republican|location=Annapolis, Maryland, USA}}
• {{cite book|last1=Chesneau|first1=Roger|last2=Kolesnik|first2=Eugene M|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|year=1979|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-133-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Fraccaroli|first=Aldo|title=Italian Warships of World War 1|year=1970|publisher=Ian Allan|location=London|isbn=0-7110-0105-7}}
• {{cite book|last1=Gardiner|first1=Robert|last2=Gray|first2=Randal|title=Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-245-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Grant|first=Robert M.|title=U-Boats Destroyed: The Effect of Anti-Submarine Warfare 1914–1918|year=1964|location=London|publisher=Putnam}}
• {{cite book|last=Greger|first=René|title=Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I|year=1976|publisher=Ian Allan|location=London|isbn=0-7110-0623-7}}

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• [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/torpediniere/pegaso_classe.aspx Classe Pegaso] Marina Militare website

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{{WWI Italian ships}}

Category:Torpedo boats of the Regia Marina

Category:World War I naval ships of Italy