The ''Alpino'' class were a group of two
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
s built for the
Italian Navy
"Fatherland and Honour"
, patron =
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...
during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
.
Design
The design was originally conceived as an enlarged version of the s. The design was however changed radically with a
CODAG machinery suite comprising gas turbines and diesels. These ships introduced the use of ship-based helicopters and variable depth sonar into the Italian Navy.
The ships underwent significant modernisation in the 1980s with the fitting of new sonar and electronic warfare equipment.
Ships
Initially four ships were planned to be ordered in 1959 to 1961. These ships were to be named ''Circe'', ''Climene'', ''Perseo'' and ''Polluce'' in honour of the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
-era s of those names. These ships were postponed while the designs were updated and two ships were ordered in 1962. Both vessels were built by CNR in
Riva Trigoso
Riva may refer to:
People
* Riva (surname)
* Riva Castleman (1930–2014), American art historian, art curator and author
* Riva Ganguly Das (born 1961), Indian diplomat
* Riva (footballer), Brazilian former footballer Rivadávio Alves Pereir ...
and named after types of soldiers and specifically after two World War II s.
The ships were used as auxiliary vessels from the mid-1990s. ''Carabiniere'' was used as a trials ship for new missiles (
PAAMS) and radar.
Citations
Sources
* Blackman, Raymond V.B. ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd, 1971. .
* Gardiner, Roger and Stephen Chumbley. ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA, 1995. .
* Moore, John. ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86''. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1985. .
External links
Alpino (F 580 – A5384)Marina Militare website
Carabiniere (F 581)Marina Militare website
{{Italian destroyers, frigates and corvettes post-1945, state=collapsed, noshipclass=yes
Frigate classes