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The ''Durand de la Penne'' class are two guided missile destroyers operated by the Marina Militare, the Italian navy. The design is an updated version of the but these ships are larger, have CODOG machinery and modern sensors. Initially four ships were planned but the second pair were cancelled as Italy had decided to join the Horizon project. ==Origins== This class is named after a famous naval diver who served in the Regia Marina during World War II, Luigi Durand de la Penne. He, together with other members of X MAS made the most successful human torpedo mission, damaging the British battleships and in Alexandria, December 1941, with SLCs 'Maiale'. These new ships were meant as very advanced destroyers, with an improvement over the previous types in almost every aspect of design. Because the ships in Marina Militare Italiana are seldom built from scratch (especially for economic reasons), it is worth considering the evolution of this project, starting with the first class of missile destroyers made in Italy. With progressive calls for better performances, this class evolved into the final design for the Durand de la Penne class destroyer. The first step of this 'cumulative growth' was the , the firsts guided missile destroyers of the Marina Militare, but still a version of the . The ''Impavido'' class ships were commissioned in the early 1960s and were roughly equal to the US Navy . Both shared the Tartar missile system, with a Mk 13 launcher, around 40 missiles and two Fire Control radars, all this was fitted in the aft of the ship. Both also had two single guns, but American ships had these in single mountings and in a new model, the Mk 42, one fore and the other aft, while the Impavido made use of an older Mk 38 dual turret. One difference was the secondary weaponry. While both had lightweight torpedo launchers, the rest was different. The ''Charles F. Adams'' class had an ASROC launcher, dedicated to ASW tasks, to help counter the growing number of Soviet submarines. The ''Impavido''s did not have such systems, but instead had four model MM (Marina Militare) guns. In the Mediterranean there was always the danger of air attacks as the main threat to ships, and this usually led to the construction of many Italian warships with a heavier short-range air defence armament than normal. This is not true for oceanic ships, less endangered by aircraft and more by submarines. The relative danger to the Royal Navy in the Falklands War was due, mainly, to the excessive optimisation to fight Soviet submarines, so after this war the RN made many improvements in the air defence field – including installation of many Close-In Weapon Systems. In service the MM guns were not considered satisfactory, despite having decisive improvements over the older American guns. Reliability left a lot to be desired, while the lack of a totally automatic mode of fire proved a disadvantage. Not coincidentally, no first generation Italian guns had any export success. In the early years of the 1970s, a new pair of destroyers was commissioned, the ''Audace'' class. They were built somewhat bigger, to accommodate the solution to one of the most serious weakness of the previous Impavido class, the lack of an ASW helicopter hangar. Agusta had navalised the Bell 212 helicopter and two of these were accommodated in a hangar, practically framed with the Tartar launcher, in the same relatively small superstructure. The guns remained in the same location, number, and calibre, but they were totally new models, developed in those years: the and Otobreda 127/54 Compact. The latter was and is still a very powerful weapon, with a rate of fire of 40–45 shells per minute, and projected to be an efficient anti-aircraft weapon. They have a greater maximum elevation and higher rate of fire than their rough equivalent, the US 5"/54 caliber Mark 45 gun, but also have higher weight and volume requirements. Two were in fore positions, at different heights to shoot at the same target. They were controlled by the new RTN-10X radar, an advanced type for its time that was also adopted by the Royal Navy for some of its ships. Midship there were four Otobreda 76 mm cannons. They were and are reliable, fast-firing and light weapons, capable of sustaining a rate of fire of 80 rounds a minute and actually the most widespread weapon of its class (also because there are practically no competitors). These guns also had fire control radars, one for every flank. Towards the aft of the ship there was the Tartar launcher with the two Agusta helicopters able to make ASW and limited anti-ship tasks. For ASW these ships also have both light (two triple 12.8 inch) and heavy (two dual 533 mm) torpedo launchers, and Whitehead A.244 (light) and A.192 (heavy) torpedoes, 12 for each type. These were very modern and advanced in their day and the heavier type were able to be also used against ships within their range. So the Audace class had two different types of guns and two different types of torpedoes, a characteristic without parallel in other navies. The class was not perfect however. Despite the powerful six-gun armament, none of them was able to fire directly aft of the ship, leaving this quarter only to the Tartar missile system, a weapon not meant to provide close air defence (this will be rectified with the de la Penne class). The artillery was also very good when employed against aircraft, but somewhat lacking against missiles (despite the very short time required to fire after the alarm was given), while there were no SSM missiles on board, to strike naval target over the horizon (except the use of the obsolete AS-12 missile from helicopters), so this role could only be accomplished by guns within the 20- range of the gun systems. The powerplant was still a steam-turbine type, quite bulky and obsolete, but their were enough to achieve around and quite a good range. The ship's dimensions were again a bit cramped, accommodating all the equipment and the crew (380) on board a relatively small hull. The heavy load of ammunitions was a serious potential danger for the ship. Also because the superstructure was built of light aluminium alloys, prone to burn in a substantial fire. At the end of the 1980s, while the ''Impavido''s were phased out, the ''Audace''s were modernised. The second gun (in 'B' position) was replaced by an 8-round Albatross/Aspide system. Eight long range Otomat missiles were fitted at midship, between the four guns, now replaced with the Super-Rapid sub-type, which were much better against missiles. The heavy torpedoes were removed and overall the capabilities were improved in AAW and anti-ship tasks. The ''Audace''s were one of the best destroyer classes of its time. There were some shortcomings to face however, and technical evolution to consider, while the ''Impavido''s were too old to be considered good for other updates. So in the 1980s development of a new class of destroyer was begun. Initially known as the ''Audace'' 'migliorata' class, or class ''Animoso'', they were given the final name of ''Durand de la Penne'' Class. Initially there were projects for three DARDO CIWS, but these were then replaced by Super-Rapid guns which were considered superior. This and the partial redesign of the ship to gain a reduced RCS were the main alterations during the engineering. The power-plant was planned with new generation machinery: a CODAG configuration, diesel for cruising, and gas-turbines for high speed. This provided more endurance, less weight, with less space needed, less danger (no boilers) and were more responsive than steam turbines. Superstructure components were made mainly of steel and not flammable aluminium. Some armour was added as well in the vital sectors. All this caused an increase in displacement, from the original 3,600/4,500 tons of ''Audace'', to 4,500/5,400 tons. Overall dimension were also increased. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Durand de la Penne-class destroyer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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