Wednesday - The destroyers Italo Dilda and the Antonio Stranges paratrooper will enter service in Spezia respectively Bersagliere e Grenadier, first and second units of the "Bersagliere" class.

Constructed in 10 units (the eleventh, Ascari, ordered from China, will be purchased by the Regia Marina in the 1912) from the Ansaldo shipyard in Sestri Ponente, the "Soldato" destroyers were a derivation of the "Nembo" and differed for a greater displacement (about 70 t), for the layout of the engine and armament equipment on four cannons from 76 / 40 and three torpedo launchers from 450 mm. The destroyers of this class were under construction when the Russian-Japanese war occurred in the Far East which, due to its naval appearance, marked a starting point for further evolution and for a more modern construction and use concept of the ship torpedo, with greater speed enhancement (30-32 knots) and armament (pieces of the 102 mm caliber and torpedo launchers from 533 mm), from which the "Soldier" remained excluded. The contractual speed of 28,5 nodes was reached by all the units at the tests (except for theGunner) carried out at normal load (395 t), but with full load (415 t) the "Bersagliere" never exceeded the 24 knots.

Even within the limits of their characteristics and undoubtedly inferior to the contemporary foreign constructions, the "Soldato" proved to be good marine boats and their maneuverability proved to be excellent. The Bersagliere and Grenadier were set in July 1905, respectively the 11 and the 24, and launched in October of the 1906, the 2 and the 27.

Source: Military Navy