Italian destroyer Ardito (D 550)

Ardito (D 550) is the second ship of the Audace-class destroyer of the Italian Navy.

For other ships with the same name, see Italian ship Ardito.
Ardito in La Spezia on 20 June 2016.
History
 Italy
Name: Ardito
Namesake: Ardito
Operator: Italian Navy
Builder: Cantiere navale di Riva Trigoso shipyards
Laid down: 19 July 1968
Launched: 27 November 1971
Commissioned: 5 December 1972
Decommissioned: 28 September 2006
Identification: Pennant number: D 550
Fate: Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type: Audace-class destroyer
Displacement: 4,554 tons full load
Length: 140.7 m (461 ft 7 in)
Beam: 14.7 m (48 ft 3 in)
Draught: 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)
Propulsion:
  • 2-shaft geared steam turbines
  • 4 × Foster Wheeler boilers providing 73,000 hp (54,000 kW)
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range: 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Complement: 380
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 2 AB-212ASW helicopters

Development

The design of these ships was related to the previous Impavido-class, but they were meant as a decisive improvement over these older vessels. They hull was more capable to resist high sea conditions, incorporating an aft superstructure used to accommodating two AB-212 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters. This gave the vessels an ASW capability, with improved sonars and torpedo tubes.[1]

The superstructures were built with aluminium alloys in two blocks with one mack (this is the combination with the funnels supporting metallic, short trees used for radar equipment) each. The distance between the two superstructure blocks was high, as both the propulsion systems were located at midships and over this, the 76 mm gun battery. The aft superstructure was dedicated to the Tartar/SM-1 missiles and hangar.[2]

Due to its anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and anti-ship characteristics, the Ardito was the most modern that had been conceived and built up to then in the field of military naval construction. type, entered service in December 1973.

Construction and career

She is laid down on 19 July 1968 and launched on 27 November 1971 by Cantiere navale di Riva Trigoso. Commissioned on 5 December 1972 with the hull number D 550 and decommissioned on 28 September 2006.

After leaving service in 2006, after more than 10 years of mooring at the docks of the La Spezia base, in December 2017 the two ships were sold, by the Agenzia Industrie Difesa (AID), by means of an international public auction. within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), at Aliaga.[3]

References
  1. "Audace class Guided-Missile Destroyer". Helis.com. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  2. "Audace Class Guided-Missile Destroyer | Military-Today.com". www.military-today.com. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  3. "I cacciatorpediniere Ardito e Audace verranno demoliti In Turchia – Analisi Difesa" (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-27.


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