View source for Freccia-class destroyer

{{short description|1930s class of destroyers of the Italian and Greek navies}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption=''Freccia'' class}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= RCT Freccia cartolina.jpg
|Ship caption=''Freccia''
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=''Freccia'' class
|Builders=
|Operators=*{{navy|Kingdom of Italy|name=''Regia Marina''}}
*{{flagicon|Greece|royalnavy}} [[Royal Hellenic Navy]]
|Class before={{sclass2|Navigatori|destroyer|4}}
|Class after={{sclass|Folgore|destroyer|4}}
|Subclasses=''Kountouriotis'' class
|Cost=
|Built range=1929–1933
|In service range=
|In commission range=1931–1946
|Total ships completed=8
|Total ships lost=6
|Total ships scrapped=2
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=[[Destroyer]]
|Ship displacement=*{{cvt|1225|t|LT|lk=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
*{{cvt|2150|t|LT}} ([[full load]])
|Ship length= {{convert|96.15|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|9.75|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught= {{convert|3.3|-|4.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts; 2 geared [[steam turbine]]s
|Ship power=*3 [[Thornycroft boiler]]s
*{{cvt|44000|hp|kW|lk=on}}
|Ship speed= {{convert|30|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= {{cvt|4600|nmi|lk=on}} at {{convert|12|kn}}
|Ship complement=185
|Ship armament=
*2 × twin [[120 mm Italian naval gun#Ansaldo 1926|{{convert|120|mm|in|abbr=on}} guns]]
*2 × single [[QF 2 pounder naval gun|{{cvt|40|mm}}]] [[AA gun]]s
*2 × twin [[Breda Model 1931 Machine Gun|{{cvt|13.2|mm}} machine guns]]
*2 × triple {{convert|533|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} [[torpedo tube]]s
*2 × [[depth charge]] throwers
*54 [[Naval mine|mine]]s
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
The '''''Freccia''-class destroyer''' was a [[ship class|class]] of [[destroyer]]s built for the {{lang|it|[[Regia Marina]]}} (Royal Italian Navy) in the 1930s. Four modified ships were built and delivered in 1933 for [[Greece]].

==Ships==

===Italian Navy===
*{{ship|Italian destroyer|Dardo|1930|2}} 
:Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente
:launched 6 September 1930, completed 25 January 1932 
:Captured by the [[Kriegsmarine|Germans]] and renamed ''TA31''. Scuttled on 24 April 1945.
*{{ship|Italian destroyer|Freccia|1930|2}}  
:Built by CT Riva Trigioso
:launched 3 August 1930, completed 21 October 1931
:In the [[Spanish Civil War]], on 15 August 1937, she shelled, torpedoed and disabled the [[Panama]]nian tanker ''George McKnight'' off [[Tunis]].
:Sunk on 8 August 1943 off [[Genoa]] by bombing.
*{{ship|Italian destroyer|Saetta||2}}  
:Built by CT Riva Trigioso
:launched 17 January 1932, completed 10 May 1932
:In the Spanish Civil War, on 11 August 1937, she torpedoed and sank the [[Second Spanish Republic|Spanish Republican]] tanker ''Campeador'' in the [[strait of Sicily]].
:Sunk by a mine on 3 February 1943 with the loss of 170 men including Lt. Cdr. Enea Picchio, the commanding officer, while 39 men survived.
*{{ship|Italian destroyer|Strale|1931|2}}  
:Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente
:launched 26 March 1931, completed 6 February 1932 
:Rammed and sank UK submarine {{HMS|Odin|N84|6}} on 14 June 1940. Beached herself on 21 June 1942 near [[Cape Bon]] and was finished off by torpedoes from the submarine {{HMS|Turbulent|N98|6}}.

{{anchor|Kountouriotis-class destroyer}}

===Hellenic Navy===
The [[Hellenic Navy|Greek Navy]] ordered four destroyers from the Italian company [[Odero Terni Orlando|Odero]] in October 1929 to a modified design, similar to the Dardo type, as the [[Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Journal|RUSI Journal]] notes, for about {{GBPConvert|500000|lk=on|year=1929|showdate=no}}.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |date=November 1929 |title=Navy Notes - Greece: New Destroyers Ordered |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rusi19/74/496 |url-status=live |format=PDF |journal=[[RUSI Journal|Journal of the Royal United Service Institution]] |type=Naval intelligence summary |language=en-GB |location=Whitehall, London |publisher=[[Royal United Service Institution]] |volume=74 |issue=496 |page=866 |doi=10.1080/03071842909422636 |issn=0307-1847 |id=''OCR:'' tesseract 5.0.0-rc2-1-gf788 <br> ''Ark:'' ark:/13960/s2rv4sz9fx3 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://archive.org/embed/sim_rusi-journal_1929-11_74_496 |archive-date=2024-10-01 |access-date=2025-05-24 |quote=A contract was signed on 2nd October with the Italian firm of Odero for the construction of two flotilla leaders of the ''Dardo'' type at a cost of about £500,000. [...] the second in twenty-two months. |via=[[Taylor & Francis Online]]}}</ref> It was named the ''Kountouriotis'' class. The chief difference with the Italian ships was the substitution of four single 120&nbsp;mm guns ([[Gio. Ansaldo & C.|Ansaldo]] Model 1926) for the twin turrets used in the Italian Navy ships. According to the RUSI Journal, the ships' armament was to consist of four [[4.7 inch gun|4.7 inch]], three [[2-pounder gun|2-pounder]], [[Aa guns|AA guns]] and six 21-inch (533&nbsp;mm) torpedo tubes. The ships were to have a displacement of 1,450 tons, and a maximum speed of 40 knots.<ref name=":0" />

*{{ship|Greek destroyer|Hydra|D97|2}}
:Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente<ref name=":0" />
:launched 21 October 1931, commissioned November 1932
:Sunk by German aircraft, 22 April 1941.
*{{ship|Greek destroyer|Spetsai||2}}
:Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente<ref name=":0" />
:commissioned May 1933
:Served in [[World War II]], decommissioned in 1946, Scrapped 1947.
*{{ship|Greek destroyer|Psara||2}}
:Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente<ref name=":0" />
:commissioned May 1933 
:Sunk by German aircraft, 20 April 1941.
*{{ship|Greek destroyer|Kountouriotis|D99|2}}
:Built by Odero, Sestri Ponente<ref name=":0" />
:launched 29 August 1931, commissioned November 1932
:Served in World War II, decommissioned and scrapped in 1946.

The two surviving ships, ''Spetsai'' and ''Kountouriotis'', served in the Eastern Mediterranean as part of the [[Greek Armed Forces in the Middle East#Navy|Free Greek Navy]] until late 1943. They were then laid up at [[Port Said]], [[Military history of Egypt during World War II|Egypt]] for want of Italian spare parts, and because their crews were needed for new ships built in the UK for the Free Greek Navy.

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Brescia|first=Maurizio|title=Mussolini's Navy: A Reference Guide to the Regina Marina 1930–45|year=2012|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1-59114-544-8}}
*{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=John|title =Naval Weapons of World War Two |publisher =Naval Institute Press|date =1985 |location =Annapolis, Maryland |isbn =0-87021-459-4}}
*{{cite book |last1=Fraccaroli |first1=Aldo |title=Italian Warships of World War II |date=1968 |publisher=Ian Allan |location=Shepperton, UK |isbn=0-7110-0002-6}}
*{{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau |editor1-first=Roger |publisher=Mayflower Books|location=New York|year=1980|isbn=0-8317-0303-2 |chapter=Italy |last1=Roberts |first1=John|pages=280–317}}
* {{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}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Chumbley|editor1-first=Stephen|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995 |year=1995 |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-55750-132-7 |chapter=Italy |last1=Smigielski |first1=Adam |pages=195–218}}
* {{cite book|first=M. J.|last=Whitley|title=Destroyers of World War 2: An International Encyclopedia |year=1988|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=1-85409-521-8 |authorlink=Michael J. Whitley}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.marina.difesa.it/noi-siamo-la-marina/mezzi/mezzi-storici/Pagine/EFGHI/freccia02.aspx Freccia (1930) ] Marina Militare website

{{Portal bar|Italy|Engineering}}
{{Freccia class destroyer}}
{{WWII Italian ships}}

[[Category:Destroyer classes]]
[[Category:Freccia-class destroyers| ]]