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Class overview
Builders	Pattison, Naples, Odero, Sestri Ponente
Operators	Regia Marina
Preceded by	Sirio class
Succeeded by	Orione class
Built	1904–1909
In commission	1905–1927
Completed	18
Lost	2
Retired	16
General characteristics
Type	High-Seas Torpedo boat
Displacement	210 t (210 long tons) (Perseo series) 216.5 t (213.1 long tons) (Cigno and Alcione series)
Length	50.05 m (164 ft 2 in) pp 50.35 m (165 ft 2 in) oa
Beam	5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
Draught	1.725–1.775 m (5 ft 7.9 in – 5 ft 9.9 in)
Propulsion	2 × Vertical triple-expansion steam engines Coal-fired Thornycroft boilers 2,900 ihp (2,200 kW)
Speed	25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range	300–350 nmi (350–400 mi; 560–650 km) at full speed
Complement	3 officer + 32–39 men
Armament	2× 57 mm/43 guns 1× 47 mm/43 gun 3× 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes

The Pegaso class was a class of 18 Italian sea-going steam-powered torpedo boats built between 1904 and 1909. They served in the Italo-Turkish War and the First World War, when one was sunk, and continued in use until the 1920s.

Design

In 1904, four High-Seas Torpedo Boats were laid down at the Pattison shipyard of Naples, to a design licensed from the British shipbuilder Thornycroft. They were powered by two triple expansion steam engines fed by two Thornycroft coal-fired water-tube boilers which gave 2,900–3,279 ihp (2,163–2,445 kW) driving two shafts and allowing the contract speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) to be reached. Two funnels were fitted. Torpedo armament consisted of three 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, with a gun armament of two 57 mm/43 guns and one 47 mm/43 gun.

While these four ships (known as the Perseo series) were built, launching and completing in 1905–06, work began on two further batches, with eight more being ordered from Pattison (the Cigno series) and six from Odero, Sestri (the Alcione series). These ships were built with thicker plating than those of the Perseo series, and so were slightly heavier (displacing 216.5 t (213.1 long tons) compared with 210 t (210 long tons) for the earlier ships). Two of the Cignos, Calipso and Climene were fitted with oil fired boilers during construction, while six more ships (Pallade, Pegaso, Procione, Airone, Alcione and Ardea) were converted to oil fuel between 1908 and 1913.

The ships were re-armed during the First World War, with the Perseo and Cigno series replacing their armament with two 76 mm (3 in)/40 guns, one 13.2 mm machine gun and two 450 mm torpedo tubes. The Alcione series' new armament differed in that one of the 76 mm guns was an anti-aircraft gun.

Service

In September 1911, the Italo-Turkish War broke out. The Italian Navy, including its torpedo boats, was highly active during the war. Actions involving the Pegaso class included Cigno carrying out shore bombardment along with larger units of the fleet in support of Italian land forces near Tripoli in November 1911, and a reconnaissance of the Dardanelles by five torpedo boats (the Sirio-class ship Spica and four Pegaso-class ships, Perseo, Astore, Climene and Centauro).

Several of the Pegaso class were used as high-speed minesweepers during the First World War. Perseo collided with sister ship Astore on 6 February 1917, and sunk when one of its torpedoes exploded. Arpia struck the wreck of the Neapolitan frigate Torquato Tasso (which had sunk off Porto d'Ascoli in 1861) on 17 January 1918. It sustained major damage and sank in shallow water, but was raised and repaired, re-entering service in July 1918.

The surviving vessels were discarded from 1923 to 1927.

Ships

Perseo series

Cigno series

Alcione series

Notes

1. An additional six High Seas Torpedo Boats were ordered from the German shipyard Schichau-Werke in 1904. These ships, which were of similar size and capabilities to the Pegaso class, became the Sirio class.

Citations

1. ^ Fraccaroli 1970, pp. 78, 80–81.
2. ^ Fraccaroli 1970, p. 80.
3. ^ "Sezione Torpediniere: Sottosezione Torpediniere di alto mare: Classe Pegaso". Marina Militare (Italian Navy). Retrieved 8 December 2013.
4. ^ Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 359.
5. ^ Fraccaroli 1970, p. 78.
6. ^ Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 272.
7. Beehler 1913, p. 35.
8. Beehler 1913, pp. 87–90.
9. Fraccaroli 1970, p. 82.
10. ^ Fraccaroli 1970, pp. 80–81.
11. ^ Fraccaroli 1970, pp. 81–82.
12. Greger 1976, p. 76.
13. Grant 1964, p. 163.

References

• Beehler, William Henry (1913). The History of the Italian-Turkish War, Sept. 29, 1911 to Oct. 18, 1912. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Advertiser-Republican.
• Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M (1979). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1970). Italian Warships of World War 1. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0105-7.
• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Grant, Robert M. (1964). U-Boats Destroyed: The Effect of Anti-Submarine Warfare 1914–1918. London: Putnam.
• Greger, René (1976). Austro-Hungarian Warships of World War I. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0623-7.

External links

• Classe Pegaso Marina Militare website

• Italy
• Engineering

• Torpedo boats of the Regia Marina
• World War I naval ships of Italy