The ''Gabbiano''-class corvettes were a group of 59 vessels built for the ''

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' (" ...

'' of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for service during the

Second World War 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. They were built to a war-time design and intended for anti-submarine and escort duties.

Design

The ''Gabbiano''s were designed to be built quickly and in large numbers and began to enter service in May 1942. The ships were fitted with

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects on ...

and

hydrophone A hydrophone ( grc, ὕδωρ + φωνή, , water + sound) is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potent ...

s, but the ''Regia Marina'' did not consider removing features such as

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed abo ...

s to reduce topweight or allow the vessels to carry more

anti-submarine weapon 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 ...

s. These ships were equipped with electric 'creep' motors with an endurance of at for

silent running ''Silent Running'' is a 1972 American environmental-themed post-apocalyptic science fiction film. It is the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, and stars Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, and Jesse Vint. Plot In the future, all plant l ...

while engaged in anti-submarine searches,Conway p317 Overall, they were well-designed for operations in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

and were successful in their role.

Service

Sixty vessels were ordered, and 29 were completed by September 1943. The

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

seized many of these vessels after the Italian surrender in 1943, and operated them under new names until the end of the war. The Germans also completed 20 vessels under construction. Fourteen vessels survived the war; the postwar ''

Marina Militare "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

'' used them as patrol vessels until 1972. Two corvettes played important parts in Italian history: ''Persefone'' brought

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until Fall of the Fascist re ...

, under arrest after 25 July 1943, from

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

Ponza Ponza (Italian: ''isola di Ponza'' ) is the largest island of the Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina i ...

, while a short time later on 9 September 1943 ''Baionetta'' carried the Italian royal family and the Italian government with Marshall

Badoglio Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regim ...

from

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated ci ...

to Brindisi during their escape from Rome after the armistice.

Ships

Notes

References

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External links

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Gabbiano
Marina Militare website {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabbiano Class Corvette Corvette classes Ships built in Italy World War II naval ships of Italy