The ''Bergamini'' class was a class of four
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 operated by the
Italian Navy
"Fatherland and Honour"
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. They entered service in 1961, with the last one being stricken in 1988.
Design
A new class of four
corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
s officially designated ''Corvette Veloci Tipo 2'' - (Type 2 Fast Corvette) for the ''Marina Militare'' (
Italian Navy
"Fatherland and Honour"
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) was announced in 1956. They were larger than the existing s of the Italian Navy, and carried similar
anti-submarine
An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
equipment to the frigates of the . The ships were to be powered by four
diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s driving two shafts, which could propel the ships to .
The armament of the class was subject to numerous changes during the design and construction process, which affected the layout of the ship. As finally built, the ships carried an
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
armament of three
rapid fire cannons, capable of firing 57 rounds per minute per gun, with two forward and one aft. A single autoloading
Menon anti-submarine mortar was fitted forward of the
bridge and was capable of firing 15 depth charges per minute to a range of about . This was supplemented by two
Mark 32 triple
torpedo tubes capable of launching American lightweight
Mark 44 torpedo
The Mark 44 torpedo is a now-obsolete air-launched and ship-launched lightweight torpedo manufactured in the United States, and under licence in Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, with 10,500 being produced for U.S. service. It ...
es. A
helicopter deck and folding
hangar for a light helicopter was fitted behind the bridge, with the diesel exhaust uptakes and the ship's mast combined into a
mack to make room for the hangar, while fin stabilisers were fitted to aid helicopter operations on such a small ship.
[Blackman 1962, p. 138.]
History
''Carlo Margottini'' and ''Luigi Rizzo'' were laid down at the Navalmeccanica shipyard,
Castellammare in 1957. The next ship of the class, ''Carlo Bergamini'' was planned to be built by Cantieri Navale de Taranto, but the order was switched to the CRDA shipyards at
Trieste, work starting in 1959. The final ship of the class, ''Virginio Fasan'' was laid down at Castellammare in 1960. ''Luigi Rizzo'' was the first to enter service in 1961, with all four ships in service by the end of 1962.
In the late 1960s, the ''Marina Militare'' adopted the
AB.204 as its standard shipboard helicopter. In order to accommodate the larger helicopter, a larger helicopter deck and hangar (which was still collapsible) was fitted, which in turn required removal of the aft 76 mm gun.
[Blackman 1971, p. 187.]
''Luigi Rizzo'' and ''Carlo Bergamini'' were discarded in 1980 and 1981 respectively. The final two ships were not finally stricken until 1988.
Ships in class
Source
Citations
References
* Blackman, Raymond V. B. ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1962–63''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1962.
* Blackman, Raymond V. B. ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1971. .
* Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley. ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995''. Annapolis, Maryland USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. .
External links
Carlo Bergamini (F 593)Marina Militare website
{{Italian destroyers, frigates and corvettes post-1945, state=collapsed, noshipclass=yes
Frigate classes