Fante Class Destroyer Geniere D 555

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

  The Fante class of Italian destroyers consisted of three former American Fletcher class destroyers.  The Fante (D 561), Lanciere (D 560), and Geniere (D 555). 

 

  The Fletcher class destroyers were designed in 1939 in the United States.  America had not been satisfied with preceding destroyer designs and they used the lessons learned from previous classes such as the Porter and the Sommers to create a destroyer that proved exceedingly successful.  The Fletchers were heavily armed with a main dual purpose battery of five 5-inch guns and the ability to carry ten torpedoes.  They had a long range and were able to achieve speeds of 36.5 knots.  All in a relatively small package of 2,500 tons.  They became the workhorse destroyer for the USA in World War II and their capability and capacity for upgrade led to Fletcher Class destroyers serving with the United States Navy into the 1970's.  Many were sold to other nations starting in the 1950's and the last active Fletcher was decommissioned by the Mexican Navy in 2001.

 

  Several vessels of the Fletcher class underwent a major modernization effort in the 1950s.  This consisted of two basic conversions.  Some were converted to a "Destroyer Escort" version that removed the torpedoes and most of the 5-inch guns to allow the equipping of various anti-submarine weapons to include Hedgehog ASW mortars.  The other conversion simply modernized the armament and sensors.  This included the removal of the torpedo tubes and a significant improvement in the AA armament at the cost of one of the 5-inch turrets.

 

  Identifying a gap in their fleet capability in the early 1970's Italy obtained some of these upgraded Fletchers from the United States.  They bought two of the ASW conversions (the former USS Walker and USS Taylor which became the Fante and Lanciere respectively) and one of the standard destroyer upgrades (the USS Prichett which became the Geniere).  At this point in their careers the these vessels were quite old and had seen decades of service throughout three wars.  They were also all without significant rebuild as they were purchased in "as is, where is" condition.  Consequently the vessels proved to be in poor condition and thus provided only a short term solution.  The Italian Navy struck the Lanciere from the navy list in 1971, cannibalizing her for spare parts to keep her sister ships operational.  This only delayed the inevitable, however,  and the Geniere was struck in 1975 with the Fante following in 1977.   Fortunately their age will not affect their use in War Thunder where maintenance isn't a mechanic and everything works as designed so this class would be an excellent addition for Italy in game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Line Drawing of Geniere D 555 in Italian Service.

 

The Fante Class had the following specifications (Geniere in BOLD):

 

Displacement (Full):  D 560, D 561: 2950 tons.  D 555: 3005 tons.

Length: D 560/561:  114.8m.  D555: 114.7m.

Beam: 12.1m.

Draft:  5.5m.

Machinery:  2 X General Electric geared steam turbines, 4 X Babcock & Wilcox Boilers generating 60000 h.p.

Max Speed: D 560/561: 35 kts. D 555 38 kts.

Armament:  D 560/561: 2 x 1 - 127/38 Mk 30, 2 x 2 - 76/50 Mk 33, 4 x 2 - 20/70 Mk 24, 2 x 24 - 178 Hedgehog Mk 15 ASWRL.

D 555:  4 x 1 - 127/38 Mk 30, 3 x 2 - 76/50 Mk 33, 7 x 1 - 20/70 Mk 10, 6 DCT, 2 DCR (56).

Sensors:  SPS-6, SPS-10, Mk 25 radars, SQS-4 sonar.

Crew:  D 560/561:  250.  D 555:  273.

 

  Obviously the Geniere  was significantly different than her sister ships.  It should also be fairly clear she is by far the most capable of the class for surface action.  With her heavier gun armament, greater speed, and larger crew she is the obvious choice to represent the class in War Thunder.  

 

Sources: https://www.navypedia.org/ships/italy/it_dd_fante.htm

http://www.seaforces.org/marint/Italian-Navy/Destroyer/Fante-Fletcher-class.htm

http://www.seaforces.org/marint/Italian-Navy/Destroyer/D-555-ITS-Geniere.htm

http://www.seaforces.org/marint/Italian-Navy/Destroyer/D-560-ITS-Lanciere.htm

http://www.seaforces.org/marint/Italian-Navy/Destroyer/D-561-ITS-Fante.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher-class_destroyer

 

Respectfully Submitted:

Conte Baracca

[ItssLuBu 1,803]

Approved and open for discussion. 

[Nicholas_Concu 2,634]

+1
gib us modern ships

[Milocat 4,857]

+1, these modernized Fletchers would be interesting to have in-game.

[PlanyKaanere 722]

+1, though it would probably be better as a premium or event ship due to its foreign origin.

[EvenManatee887@live 129]

+1, given the state of Italian destroyers, I think it would be better to see this is a TT ship or event vehicle. The other Fante's would def be prems though. 

[jon_man1199 563]

+1 from me, i've always been an advocate for every nation (of those in game) that operated Fletchers to get them in game especially countries like Italy and Germany as they provide bridges to fill the post war gaps in the trees. 

[TheNexonRegime 429]

+1 The Italian naval tree really needs more vessels that can moderately compete against the other nations.

 

[ZackZooter 55]

4 minutes ago, TheNexonRegime said:

The Italian naval tree really needs more vessels that can moderately compete against the other nations.

 

To note on that quote, its not just Italy... Germany, Japan & Britain too need better vessels as bigger ship are added into War Thunder & its getting harder to fight toe-to-toe with even same BR DD these days..

 

Example: USS Somers & Porter-class are uptiered to BR 5 which can cause damage to BR 4.7 & BR 5 cruisers yet struggles to even seriously damage 5.3 currently WHILE USSR Tashkent & PR 56 Spokoinyy firepower can even pen most 5.7 armor with ease but not seriously affect Graf Spee armor level...

 

German only have 1 DD, Type 1936A MOB that can counter any cruiser threat until Battlecruisers which is Admiral Graf Spee, SMS Von Der Tarr & SMS Westfallen level of firepower & armor...

 

Britain Battle Class can only pen the 5.3 cruiser armor at best and struggles to even seriously damage any 5.7 cruisers WHILE Japan don't have any AP shell of any kind except cruisers which is common those days... Italian APHE can only counter BR 5 cruisers at best BUT struggles badly against BR 5.3 armor which pretty tough... 

 

I don't know about French Navy though since i barely heard anything noteworthy about them... sorry

[ironcell26 252]

+1, an upgraded fletcher class it's a nice option to fill this ghost tree they have the courage to call Regia Marina

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

6 hours ago, ironcell26 said:

+1, an upgraded fletcher class it's a nice option to fill this ghost tree they have the courage to call Regia Marina

Italy has a big time destroyer problem (nothing in game worthy of 4.3)  this would greatly help.

[_Pixy 196]

+1

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

@qwert96 and @Handorik  Loving that this ship is coming to game.  No 20mm's on it though. I'm assuming I had bad sources?

[Handorik 539]

1 hour ago, Conte_Baracca said:

@qwert96 and @Handorik  Loving that this ship is coming to game.  No 20mm's on it though. I'm assuming I had bad sources?

 

Yep, bad sources.

Good to know that you are happy about Geniere! 

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

16 minutes ago, Handorik said:

 

Yep, bad sources.

Good to know that you are happy about Geniere! 

It's gonna be GREAT

 

[qwert96 700]

18 hours ago, Conte_Baracca said:

@qwert96 and @Handorik  Loving that this ship is coming to game.  No 20mm's on it though. I'm assuming I had bad sources?

Yes, as Handorik said.

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

11 hours ago, qwert96 said:

Yes, as Handorik said.

Always good to hear from you @qwert96  She's a beauty in game.  Gorgeous model and brilliant little ship

 

[leroyonly 4,311]

As the Geniere (D555) has been implemented with update 2.17 Danger Zone,

 

Moved to Implemented Suggestions.