to Libya; on 23 September 1941 she took part in a minelaying operation, escorting sister ships , , and that laid a minefield south of Malta. On 21 November and 13 December 1941 Aviere participated in two large convoy operations between Italy and Libya, which failed due to heavy attacks by aircraft and submarines; in both instances, she was detached to escort back to base damaged warships of the heavy cover groups (heavy cruiser , that had been torpedoed by on 21 November, and battleship , torpedoed by , on 13 December). On 16 December Aviere took part in another large convoy operation to Libya, which was successful, and participated in the First Battle of Sirte. Between January and March 1942 Aviere participated in the escorts of four more large convoy operations to Libya, "M. 43", "T. 18", "K. 7" and "V. 5", that were successful, with the only loss of the transport Victoria, sunk by Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers on 24 January. On 21–22 March she took part in the Second Battle of Sirte, and on 11–12 August she participated in Operation Pedestal, where she towed the damaged heavy cruiser , torpedoed by , to the island of Panarea. Between September and December 1942 Aviere carried out a number of escort and transport missions between Italy and North Africa. On 16 December 1942 she sailed from Naples together with sister ship Camicia Nera, escorting the German freighter Ankara towards Bizerta; at 11:15 on the following day, the submarine attacked the convoy and torpedoed Aviere, which blew up, broke in two and quickly sank in 38°00' N, 10°05' E. About one hundred of Avieres 250 crew survived the initial sinking, but only 30 could be eventually rescued by the torpedo boats and on that afternoon, the rest having perished. 220 men were lost, among them the commanding officer of Aviere and DesDiv 11, Captain Ignazio Castrogiovanni, who was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor. References Bibliography External links Aviere (1937) Marina Militare website Soldati-class destroyers Ships built in Livorno Ships built by OTO Melara 1937 ships World War II destroyers of Italy Maritime incidents in December 1942 Ships sunk by British submarines