Ascari was one of nineteen s built for the (Royal Italian Navy) in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Completed in mid-1939, she was the last of the first batch of a dozen ships to enter service. Design and description The Soldati-class destroyers were slightly improved versions of the preceding . They had a length between perpendiculars of and an overall length of . The ships had a beam of and a mean draft of and at deep load. The Soldatis displaced at normal load, and at deep load. Their wartime complement during was 206 officers and enlisted men. Ascari was powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by three Yarrow boilers. Designed for a maximum output of and a speed of in service, the Soldati-class ships reached speeds of during their sea trials while lightly loaded. They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at a speed of and at a speed of . Ascaris main battery consisted of four 50-caliber guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. On a platform amidships was a 15-caliber 120-millimeter star shell gun. Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the Soldatis was provided by eight Breda Model 1935 guns. The ships were equipped with six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships. Although they were not provided with a sonar system for anti-submarine work, they were fitted with a pair of depth charge throwers. The ships could carry 48 mines. Construction and career Ascari, built at the OTO shipyard in Livorno, was laid down on 11 December 1937, launched on 31 July 1938 and completed on 6 May 1939. She was the last ship of the first (pre-war) group of the Soldati class to enter service. When Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940, Ascari was part of the 12th Destroyer Division, together with sister ships , and . On 11 June Ascari and her sister ships carried out a reconnaissance mission in the Sicilian Channel. On 9 July 1940 Ascari and her division participated in the Battle of Calabria; in the final phase of the battle, the 12th Destroyer Division was ordered to attack the British Mediterranean Fleet with torpedoes. Ascari fired a torpedo at a British cruiser, but without success. Between late July and early August Ascari was among the escorts in a large