Soldato-class destroyer

The Soldato class was ordered from Ansaldo as an improved version of the {{sclass|Nembo|destroyer|3}}, a class of six turtleback destroyers built for the Italian Navy by the Pattison shipyard of Naples to a modified Thornycroft design between 1899 and 1905.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 356.Fraccaroli 1970, p. 65. The new design carried a more powerful armament than the earlier ships, with four 76 mm (3 in)/40 calibre guns (capable of firing a {{convert|5.9|kg|lb|abbr=on}} shell to a range of {{convert|9850|m|abbr=on}} at a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute per gunFraccaroli 1970, pp. 281–282.) and three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes instead of the five 57 mm guns and four 356 mm (14 in) tubes carried by the Nembo class.

The ships were powered by two sets of triple expansion steam engines fed by three Thornycroft water-tube boilers and driving two propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at {{convert|6000|ihp|kW|abbr=on|lk=in}} to give a speed of {{convert|28.5|kn|lk=in}}. The ships were fitted with three funnels. Six ships (the Artigliere group) had coal-fired boilers, carrying 95 t of coal, sufficient to give a range of {{convert|1500|nmi|mi km}} at a speed of {{convert|12|kn}} or {{convert|400|nmi}} at {{convert|23.5|kn}}.{{cite web|title=Almanacco storico navale: Artigliere: Cacciatorpediniere|publisher=Marina Militare|accessdate=22 December 2013|url=http://www.marina.difesa.it/storiacultura/storia/almanacco/Pagine/ABCD/artigliere01.aspx}} Four more ships (the Alpino group) were fitted with oil-fired boilers, with 65 t of oil giving a range of {{convert|1600|nmi}} at 12 knots.{{cite web|title=Almanacco storico navale: Alpino: Cacciatorpediniere|publisher=Marina Militare|accessdate=22 December 2013|url=http://www.marina.difesa.it/storiacultura/storia/almanacco/Pagine/ABCD/alpino01.aspx}}

All 10 ships were laid down in 1905, with the first four ships of the Artigliere group completed in 1907, with the remaining ships delivered in 1910. In 1910, China placed an order for a single destroyer based on the Soldato class, to be named Ching Po or Tsing Po. This ship was to have a gun armament of two 76 mm and four 47 mm guns, and was designed to use mixed fuel, with one boiler being coal-fired and two being oil-fired. In 1912, the under-construction ship was acquired by Italy, and renamed Ascaro. The ship's armament was revised to conform with the rest of the class, but the ship retained its non-standard machinery.

The Soldato class were the most modern destroyers in the Regia Marina when the Italo-Turkish War broke out. Soldato-class destroyers took place in both the Battle of Preveza, where Italian destroyers, including {{ship|Italian destroyer|Artigliere|1907|2}} and {{ship|Italian destroyer|Corazziere|1909|2}} sank three Turkish torpedo boats.Hythe 1912, pp. 160–161.Beehler 1913, pp. 22–23. and the Battle of Kunfuda Bay, where the protected cruiser {{ship|Italian cruiser|Piemonte||2}}, together with Artigliere and {{ship|Italian destroyer|Garibaldino||2}} sank seven gunboats.Beehler 1913, pp. 50–51.Hythe 1912, pp. 166–167.

One ship, Garibaldino, was lost following a collision on 16 July 1918. The remaining ships were reclassified as torpedo boats on 1 July 1921 and were gradually discarded through the 1920s and early 1930s, with the final ship, {{ship|Italian destroyer|Fuciliere|1909|2}} stricken on 15 December 1932.

;Artigliere group

;Alpino group

;Ascaro

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

{{reflist}}

• {{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|last1=Dittmar|first1=F.J.|last2=Colledge|first2=J.J.|title=British Warships 1914–1919|year=1972|publisher=Ian Allan|location=Shepperton, UK|isbn=0-7110-0380-7}}
• {{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|last=Fraccaroli|first=Aldo|chapter=Italy|pages=252–290|editor1-last=Gray|editor1-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis |publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-0-87021-907-8}}
• {{cite book|author=Hythe, Viscount|title= The Naval Annual 1912|year=1912|location= Portsmouth, UK|publisher=J Griffin}}

• [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/ABCD/bersagliere01.aspx Soldato-class destroyer] Marina Militare website

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}

{{Soldato class destroyer}}

{{WWI Italian ships}}

Category:Destroyer classes

Category:Destroyers of the Regia Marina

Category:World War I destroyers of Italy

Category:Ships built by Gio. Ansaldo & C.