Italian destroyer Strale (1931)
Introduction '''''Strale''''' was one of four s built for the  (Royal Italian Navy) in the early 1930s. Completed in 1932, she played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists and served in World War II.
Design and description The ''Freccia''-class destroyers were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding . They had an overall length of , a beam of  and a mean draft of . They displaced  at standard load, and  at deep load. Their complement during wartime was 185 officers and enlisted men.The ''Freccia''s were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by three Thornycroft boilers. The turbines were designed to produce  and a speed of  in service, although the 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 .Their main battery consisted of four  guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the ''Freccia''-class ships was provided by a pair of  AA guns in single mounts amidships and a pair of twin-gun mounts for  machine guns. They were equipped with six  torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships. Although the ships were not provided with a sonar system for anti-submarine work, they were fitted with a pair of depth charge throwers. The ''Freccia''s could carry 54 mines.
Construction and career ''Strale'' was laid down by Cantieri navali Odero at their Genoa-Sestri Ponente shipyard on 20 February 1929, launched on 26 March 1931 and commissioned on 6 February 1932.After the Italians entered World War II in June 1940, she and the destroyer ''Baleno'' rammed and sank the British submarine  on 14 June. ''Strale'' accidentally ran aground near Cape Bon on 21 March 1942 and later was destroyed by torpedoes from the submarine  on 21 June.
Citations
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External links *  Strale (1931)  Marina Militare website