Aviere ("Airman") was one of seventeen s, built for the (Royal Italian Navy) in the late 1930s and early 1940s. 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. Aviere 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 . Avieres 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 Aviere, built at the OTO shipyard in Livorno, was laid down on 16 January 1937, launched on 19 September 1937 and completed on 31 August 1938. When Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940, Aviere was part of the 11th Destroyer Division, together with sister ships , and . On 11 June Aviere and her sister ships carried out a reconnaissance mission in the Sicilian Channel, and on 19 June they carried supplies from Augusta to Benghazi, Libya. On 9 July Aviere and her division participated in the Battle of Calabria; in the final phase of the battle the 11th Destroyer Division was ordered to attack the Mediterranean Fleet with torpedoes and did so (overall, ten torpedoes were launched), but scored no hits. On 11–12 October Aviere participated in the Battle of Cape Passero, where she was seriously damaged by gunfire from . Between March and September 1941 she escorted a number of convoys with troops and supplies from Italy