Artigliere (D 553) destroyer.

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

Due to reparations, losses, and damage to Italian infrastructure the Marina Militare could not simply upgrade World War II era Regia Marina vessels and build organic Italian vessels to meet it's needs in the early days of the cold war.  Consequently she acquired several former allied ships including many from the United States.  The Artigliere class are such vessels. The Artigliere class destroyers consisted of two ships, the Artigliere (Gunner) D 553, and the Aviere (Aviator) D 554.  These ships were Benson/Gleaves class ships, respectively, obtained by the Marina Militare in 1951 and served for decades.  The Artigliere served as a fleet destroyer and a command ship for motor torpedo boats.  She was struck from Marina Militare's register in 1971.  However, she would continue to serve for some time as a platform for turbine instruction for cadets at the naval school of Cala Chiesa in Sardinia.  In fact one of her propellers stands on a plinth in front of the school.  In 1981 she was towed from Cala Shiesa and towed to La Spezia Naval Base.  She would meet her final fate in 1983 when she was sunk by an experimental torpedo from the Nazario Sauro (S 518) in the Gulf of La Spezia.  The Aviere would serve as a fleet destroyer until 1970 when she was converted into an experimental gun ship (A 5302).  She would serve in this capacity until 1975 when she was stricken and sunk as a target.  

 

   The Benson/Gleaves class ships were a pre World War II United States design.  They were in many ways simply an iterative design common to the US Navy at the time.  The London Naval Treaty of 1930 limited destroyer to a tonnage of 1,850 or less and a gun caliber of 5.1 (130mm) inches or less.  Due to these restrictions when the US Navy began building new destroyers to replace their ageing World War I era destroyers in 1932 they built destroyers in two types.  One type was a "standard" destroyer armed with five 5 inch guns and coming in at 1,500 tons.  The other was a "destroyer leader" type armed with eight 5 inch guns and coming in at 1,850 tons.  The US Navy built five classes of 1,500 ton treaty destroyers before forgoing the treaty.  They then built three more classes of 1,500 ton prewar ships that followed the same pattern, but were not technically constrained by the Treaty.  They were the Sims, Benson, and Gleaves classes.  These ships were all quite similar.  The biggest distinction was their powerplants.  The Sims class used a single engine room and consequently had a single stack.  The Benson/Gleaves classes used a split engine room to improve survivability and consequently had two stacks.  The difference between the Benson and Gleaves classes were even less meaningful.  Essentially the Bensons were Gleaves class ships built with different, lower pressure, machinery by Bethlehem steel works while Gleaves class ships were Besnons built with higher pressure machinery by Gibbs & Cox.   The only visual difference between the ships were the stacks.  The Bensons had flat-sided smoke funnels while the Gleaves had round-sided smoke funnels.  When it came to armament there were also differences, the Benson/Gleaves carried two quintuple launchers instead of two quadruple launchers for their torpedos.  Furthermore, as more Gleaves/Bensons were constructed their main armament was reduced to four 5 inch guns due to top weight issues.

 

 

The two Destroyers side by side.  Note the similarities.

 

Artigliere D 553.

 

Aviere D 554

 

The Benson/Gleaves class would undergo many renovations over their career in the US Navy.  Thus, when obtained by the Marina Militare they had the following specifications:

 

Length 106.1m

Beam: 11m

Draft (Full): 5.4m 

Displacement: 2520 tons

Machinery: 4 X Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 2 X General Electic geared steam turbines, 50,000 shp.

Speed (Max):  37 kts

Armament:  4 x 1 5in/38 guns, 2 x 4 40/60 mk2, 2 x 2 40/60 mk 1, 6 X 1 20/70 mk 10.

Crew: 250.

 

Either ship of the class will do, however I am proposing the Artigliere D 553 as she is the lead ship of the class.

 

Sources:

https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/ABCD/artigliere03.aspx

https://www.navypedia.org/ships/italy/it_dd_artigliere41.htm

https://www.navypedia.org/ships/italy/it_dd_aviere41.htm

http://destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/

http://www.seaforces.org/marint/Italian-Navy/Destroyer/D-553-ITS-Artigliere.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Woodworth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nicholson_(DD-442)

http://www.seaforces.org/marint/Italian-Navy/Destroyer/D-554-ITS-Aviere.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Naval_Treaty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_destroyer_classes_of_the_United_States_Navy

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

 

Respectfully Submitted,

                             Conte Baracca.

[ItssLuBu 1,803]

Approved and open for discussion. 

[Milocat 4,857]

+1, this would be an interesting destroyer class to see.

[Nicholas_Concu 2,636]

+1 Agreed ^^ 

Love the history.

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

1 hour ago, Nicholas_Concu said:

+1 Agreed ^^ 

Love the history.

Thanks.  Pretty interesting really.

 

[ironcell26 252]

+1, it's not so different from the current us DDs, so it's a viable option to fill italy TT

[camelcabal 28]

+1 

[Conte_Baracca 4,547]

This ship is needed ASAP