The ''Sparviero'' class, also known as the ''Nibbio'' class, are small

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

missile boat A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They ...

s capable of traveling at speeds of . They were designed for and formerly used by the

Italian Navy The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active per ...

. The Japanese 1-go-class missile boat is an updated version formerly used by the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force The , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

(JMSDF).

History

Italy

The ''Sparviero''-class fast attack

was designed in Italy by the Alinavi society, a consortium of the American company

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

, the Italian government's naval research branch, and Carlo Rodriquez , a

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

-based builder of commercial hydrofoils, based on Boeing's for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

.Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 217.Baker 1998, p. 382. A prototype, named ''Sparviero'' was ordered in 1970 for the

,Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 196. ''Sparviero'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

by Alinavi in

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

in April 1971, was launched on 9 May 1973 and commissioned into Italian service on 15 July 1974.Moore 1985, p. 275. The design used the Boeing Jetfoil system, with one hydrofoil forward and two aft, which folded out of the water when cruising. The boat was propelled at high speeds by a

Rolls-Royce Proteus The Bristol Proteus was the Bristol Engine Company's first mass-produced gas turbine engine design, a turboprop that delivered just over 4,000 hp (3,000 kW). The Proteus was a reverse-flow gas turbine. Because the second turbine dro ...

gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

driving a water jet, while a diesel engine driving a retractable propeller powered the boat at low speeds. The hull and

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

were constructed entirely of aluminium. As the design was intended for short-range, high speed operations, no sleeping accommodation was fitted. Armament consisted of two

Otomat The Otomat is an anti-ship missile, anti-ship and Surface-to-surface missile, coastal defence missile developed by the Italian company Oto Melara jointly with Matra and now made by MBDA. The name comes, for the first versions, from the name of ...

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...

s aft and a single Oto Melara rapid-fire gun forward. It was planned in 1974–1975 to order four more ''Sparviero''-class hydrofoils, to be supplemented by at least two larger s, but plans for a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

-wide standardisation on the ''Pegasus'' class were abandoned. When orders were finally placed in 1977, they were for six more ''Sparviero''s (giving seven in total) and no ''Pegasus''-class boats.Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 197. The new boats, built by

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

Muggiano Lerici (, locally ) is a ''comune'' in the province of La Spezia, in the Italian region of Liguria, part of the Italian Riviera. It is situated on the coast of the Gulf of La Spezia, southeast of La Spezia. It is known as the place where the p ...

, entered service from 1982 to 1984, and differed from the prototype in having a more advanced installation for the Otomat missiles (using the Teseo control system) and having water injection fitted to the gas turbines. The class proved to be underpowered, and it was hoped to re-engine them with more powerful () Alison gas turbines, but these plans were later abandoned. All of the Italian boats have now been decommissioned.

Japan

The

(JMSDF) selected a modified version of the ''Sparviero'' class as a replacement for its s. A license agreement was signed in 1991 to build up to 12 ''Sparviero''s, with the first two approved in FY90 and both were laid down by

Sumitomo The is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. I ...

in Uraga on 25 March 1991. An order for a third boat was delayed to help pay for Japan's contribution to the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, with it not being laid down until 1993. A request for a fourth boat under the FY 95 budget was rejected, and plans for further hydrofoils abandoned. The Japanese chose different armament than used in the Italian boats, with up to four Type 90 Ship-to-Ship Missiles replacing the Otomats and a non-stabilised

M61 Vulcan The M61 Vulcan is a Hydraulic machinery, hydraulically, electrically, or pneumatics, pneumatically driven, six-Gun barrel, barrel, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling gun, Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm caliber, rounds at an e ...

rotary cannon A rotary cannon, rotary autocannon, rotary gun or Gatling cannon, is any large-caliber multiple-barreled automatic firearm that uses a Gatling-type rotating barrel assembly to deliver a sustained saturational direct fire at much greater ra ...

replacing the larger Oto Melara gun. The main powerplant is a General Electric LM500 gas turbine.

Military use

Italian boats have all been decommissioned. The ''Sparviero'' class was used by the Japanese coastal patrol forces as a fast attack interceptor.

Ships in class

Italy

(All decommissioned)

Japan

(All currently decommissioned, but some may have been reactivated in 2014)

References

* Baker, A.D. ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1998–1999''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1998. . * Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley. ''Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995''. Annapolis, Maryland USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. . * Moore, John. ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86''. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1985. . * Prézelin, Bernard and Baker, A.D. ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1990/1991''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1990. . * Saunders, Stephen (RN) Jane's Fighting Ships 2003-2004 {{ISBN, 0-7106-2546-4 Hydrofoils Missile boats Ships built in Italy Ships built in Japan Ships of the Marina Militare Ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Patrol boat classes

History

Italy

Japan

Military use

Ships in class

Italy

Japan

See also

References