Luca Tarigo - Lanzerotto Maloncello – Leone Pancaldo – Antonio da Noli – Ugolino Vivaldi – Antonio Usodimare – Emanuele Pessagno – Nicoloso da Recco – Nicolò Zeno - Giovanni da Verrazzano – Alvise da Mosto – Antonio Pigafetta
They were the last Esploratori of the Royal Navy, thus ended with this series of ships, the most numerous, the evolution of a type that had originated in the previous century with theExplorer and with the messengers. They had names of sailors and never denied this qualification.
They ended up one by one, after having fought strenuously, hit to death by torpedoes, airplane bombs or by the fire of enemy ships.
Sole survivor From Recco, which had better luck, despite having sailed more in the war.
Classified since 1938 destroyer
The first examples reveal some defects of stability and robustness, so that changes were made by obviating critical points. Subsequently, except the From Recco andUsodimare, were widened by one meter and equipped with a new bow. The AA armament was also modified with the adoption of 37 and 20 mm machine guns. Apart from the initial defects, they were good units in terms of characteristics and performance, certainly among the best types of destroyers. Initially the units could take on board 54 torpedoes Vichers-Elijah (760 kg each), or 56 torpedoes Bun (Kg. 590 each). During the Second World War, in 1941 on the units destined to carry out mine laying, the rail guides were lengthened. The units could possibly take on board German torpedoes of the antenna type, up to a number of 85 and, of the anti-submarine type, up to a number of 110.
1) Luca Tarigo, in the few months preceding its sinking it traveled 18.000 miles, completing thirty war missions, mainly rapid troop transport convoys on the Naples-Palermo-Tripoli route.
The last mission set off from Naples in the late evening of 13 April 1941. The convoy headed to Tripoli was made up of four small German merchant ships and an Italian motor vessel, the escort included in addition to Tarigo, the Ct lightning e Baleno. After two days of navigation, at two in the morning of the 16 April the convoy that passed through the shallows of Kerkenah (gulf of Gabes), was sighted of stern with radar by the British Jervis, Nubian, Mohaws e Janus, and subjected to sudden and intense cannonading. The steamships were burned one by one, lightning e Baleno they were knocked out, while the Tarigo attacked the English formation. Stopping for a breakdown, before sinking, he managed to launch the last torpedo, which hit the destroyer Mohaws which sank a short distance.
2) Lanzelotto Maloncello, participated in the clash at Punta Stilo on 9 July 1940, but the need to escort convoys saw him engaged in this task. His activity in the war was long and brilliant, during the convoy escort he attacked enemy submarines several times. In 1942 he remained in the arsenal in La Spezia for work, during which the German "Dete" radar was installed on board. Returning in January 1943 he operated on the Trapani-Tunis route, as a fast transport of German troops.
The last exit took place on 23 March 1943 from Pozzuoli together with Black shirt and Pancaldo, meeting in the morning with theAscari coming from Palermo, the group of four units of Germanic troops continued to Tunis. Unfortunately at 7,30 24 March, 28 miles north of Cape Bon, the Maloncello He bumped into a mine, which broke out in the middle of the ship, sank in two.
3) Leone Pancaldo, after having participated in the clash at Punta Stilo, the unit returned together with the others to Augusta, where it moored at a buoy in the harbor, but during an attack by English torpedo bombers, it was hit by a torpedo in the boiler compartment on the starboard bow. Invaded by water she sank, listing on her side. Having sunk in port, recovery work began immediately which would last a few months. Towed to Genoa, she was put back into working order, and the “Gufo” ecogoniometer was embarked.
On April 30, 1943 he was on his seventh mission, together with the Ct Hermes (ex Greek, armed by the German navy), carried out troops from Pozzuoli to Tunis. Attacked at 11,30 by about 30 enemy bombers, it was hit by bombs that destroyed the engine and caused waterways. The Pancaldo sank to a point near Capo Bon.
4) Antonio da Noli, fourth explorer with pre-war activity similar to that of the other units. The From Noli he had a long and hard activity in the war, which ended tragically the day after the armistice.
On 8 September the unit was in La Spezia when it received the order to move to Civitavecchia. While she sailed in the company of Vivaldi towards that port, they were diverted towards the waters of Sardinia to attack German traffic and join up with the other units headed for Bona. Between 16pm and 17pm on 9 September, having reached the Straits of Bonifacio, lively action developed between the two destroyers and various German lookouts and motorboats, some of which were sunk. Some German batteries located on the coast intervened From Noli in order to get out to escape the blows of the Germans, hit a mine breaking into two sections and sinking quickly.
5) Ugolino Vivaldi, when war was declared he was in Taranto, his activity in the war was among the most brilliant, operating from the first days.
In July 1940 he participated in the clash at Punta Stilo. On 1 August 1940 at 23,05 pm the unit sighted the English submarine Oswald on the surface, increasing its speed, it rammed it, sinking it. 52 out of 55 shipwrecked survivors of the submarine were saved. She took part in the battle of Pantelleria, suffering serious damage. The ship reached Naples for urgent work. After short missions in the Tyrrhenian Sea, in early September 1943 she moved to Genoa.
On 8 September, it was sent off to rendezvous with the destroyer off the coast of Spezia From Noli and to head towards Civitavecchia, but received the order to take to the Sardinian waters, headed for the Bocche di Bonifacio. After the battle with German boats and coastal batteries, he left the area beaten by the enemy, heading towards the Balearics. Unfortunately, a plane bomb struck him and towards the 11,30 in the morning of the 10 September he sank.
6) Antoniotto Usodimare, had a life similar to that of previous units, both in peace and in war. Unfortunately this ship in its activity found itself involved in numerous collisions. On 10 August 1934, you were hit near the island of Procida by the steamer Pallas. The 1 February 1941 on the route to Brindisi came into collision with the steamer Vicinale.
On 8 September 1942 during the convoy escort leaving Messina, due to an error on the motor vessel Ankara, was invested towards the bow. The series of painful incidents was not over, theUsodimare was sunk by an Italian submarine theAlagi, the 8 September 1942 at 21,25 in the Sicilian Channel area.
7) Emanuele Pessagno, the conflict found him in Taranto, and he participated in the clash at Punta Stilo. Transferred to Brindisi, it was used for traffic protection missions towards Albania. In 1941 it was at sea in the unfortunate episode of the Italian Naval Squadron south of Crete, which culminated with the clash of Ford and Cape Matapan, then it was used to escort convoys towards North Africa. He operated until May 29, 1942, the day in which, while escorting a ship from Brindisi to Benghazi, he was torpedoed by an enemy submarine. Hit on the bow and in the center, at 3,30 in the morning it sank in less than a minute about 70 miles from the Cyrenaic port.
8) Nicoloso da Recco, at the end of the world war, of the twelve class explorersBrowsers"He was the only one to sail even after the peace treaty. More and more units were needed for escorting the Libyan convoys, the From Recco, in the summer of 1941 he moved to Palermo, starting his new and very intense activity in the Sicilian Channel. He carried out escorts to convoys and isolated units, rescued survivors of sunken steamships, hunted enemy submarines, rapid transports of troops and materials. To his credit, he shot down numerous enemy planes. Based in Taranto, the armistice of 8 September surprised him. The next day, according to the agreed terms, he moved to Malta. During the period of co-belligerence it was often used to escort allied convoys, or to transport materials and personnel to battleships Vittorio Veneto e Italy, interned in the Suez Canal to the Amari Lakes. From the 1 March 1948 to the 30 November 1950 was home to the Dredging Command. From January 1, 1951 raised the flagship banner of the 1 Silent Naval Division. The 15 July 1954 went into disarmament awaiting radiation.
9) Nicolò Zeno, during the three long years of the conflict it carried out missions on all the routes of the central Mediterranean, the Ionian and the Aegean. He distinguished himself in anti-aircraft defense, in hunting submarines, in rescuing shipwrecked people, in laying mines and in the fast transport of troops. On 15 March 1943 it moved to La Spezia for restoration work. On 8 September the unit was not yet ready, unable to move, on 9 September 1943, to prevent its capture by the Germans, it was scuttled in the port of La Spezia.
10) Giovanni Da Verazzano, the outbreak of war surprised him in La Spezia, while he was in the arsenal for the major works to enlarge the hull. The unit was called upon to escort convoys later than its sister units. Her first convoy to Benghazi left Taranto on 29 November 1941. She moved to Naples and from that port set sail on 17 October 1942 with five other Cts and three torpedo boats, to escort a convoy of four steamers to Libya. Around 13pm on the 19th, the formation was spotted by enemy submarines, a first torpedo directed against the From Terrazzano it was avoided, but a second hit the hull, removing the stern with the rudder and the propellers. Attempts to save the ship were useless, which sank to the 13,30 about 28 miles from Lampedusa.
11) Alvise Da Mosto, initially baptized Alvise Ca da Mosto, had rectified the name in Alvise Da Mosto in 1930. In the spring of 1941, like all the other sister units, it moved to escort convoys in the Sicilian Channel and to lay torpedo barriers.
Its activity on the North African routes was short-lived. After some missions completed, on 30 November 1941 she left Trapani for the last voyage, escorting the tanker Mantovani. The convoy spotted at 14,00 1 December near the shallows of Karkenah, was attacked by airplanes that hit and burned the cistern. Just before the 18,00 while the From Mosto was intent on the recovery of the shipwrecked, was attacked by English ships: Aurora, Penelope e Lively. At the 18,15 hit in full in the central ammunition dump, it sank quickly.
12) Antonio Pigafetta, was the last of the twelve Browsers to enter service, and at the outbreak of hostilities he was in Taranto. In the war the Pigafetta it was one of the luckiest and most active units. It carried out 213 missions, covering over 1940 miles between 1943 and 70.000. The wear and tear of a long time, added to the damage suffered by the ship, in an aerial bombardment suffered in Tunis on 26 April 1943, forced the ship to withdraw to undergo a long cycle of works in Fiume.
On 8 September 1943, at the time of the proclamation of the armistice, the unit was still halfway through the work cycle. On the 10th, to avoid its use by the Germans, it was sabotaged by embarking much of the dismantled machinery on a steamship which was then sunk in the open sea. However, the Germans captured the destroyer, and later managed to restore it to working order under the name of TA 44. The 17 February 1945 hit by bombs of allied aircraft, sank in the port of Trieste.
