Centauro 1960
Centauro 1977
| Name | No | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comm | Fate |
| Canopo | F551 | CNT (Tosi), Taranto | 15.5.1952 | 20.2.1955 | 4.5.1958 | discarded 9.1982 | |
| Castore | F553 | CNT (Tosi), Taranto | 14.3.1955 | 8.7.1956 | 14.7.1957 | discarded 1.1983 | |
| Centauro | D572, 4.1957- F554 | Ansaldo, Livorno | 31.5.1952 | 4.4.1954 | 4.4.1957 | discarded 5.1985 | |
| Cigno | D573, 4.1957- F555 | CNT (Tosi), Taranto | 10.2.1954 | 20.3.1955 | 7.3.1957 | discarded 10.1983 |
|
Displacement standard, t |
1807 |
|
Displacement full, t |
2250 |
|
Length, m |
93.3 pp 103.1 oa |
|
Breadth, m |
12.0 |
|
Draught, m |
3.80 |
|
No of shafts |
2 |
|
Machinery |
2 sets geared steam turbines, 2 Foster Wheeler (Ansaldo) boilers |
|
Power, h. p. |
22000 |
|
Max speed, kts |
26 |
|
Fuel, t |
oil 360 |
| Endurance, nm(kts) | 3000(20) |
|
Armament |
2 x 2 - 76/62 OTO Melara, 2 x 2 - 40/70 Breda type 64, 2 x 1 - 533 TT, 1 x 3 - 305 Menon ASWRL, 4 DCT |
|
Electronic equipment |
MLA-1, SG-6B, MLT-4 radars, SQS-11A sonar |
|
Complement |
207 |
Project history: Castore and Cigno were financed by US 'off-shore procurement' MDAP funds. The guns and fire control were Italian; sensors were American (the 76mm fire control radar was MLT-4, an Italian version of the US Mk 39, made by MicroLambda, and the main director was the Officine Galileo OG 2, comparable to the US Mk 57; the forward director was an enlarged version carrying an operator's cab. The 40mm guns were controlled by OG 1, comparable to the US Mk 51. The main ASW weapon was the new Italian Menon mortar which was also mounted in the contemporary Impetuoso class desroyers. The two torpedo tubes were mounted angled forward on either side between the funnels.
The unusual over-and-under 76mm mounting (with the elevating gear between the barrels) was unsuccessful. It was complex to load, difficult to maintain, and the mount carried few ready-service rounds.
Modernizations: 1960, all: - MLA-1 radar; + SPS-6 radar
1963 - 1964, all: - 2 DCT
(1966-1967), Castore: - 2 x 2 - 76/62, 2 x 2 - 40/70, 2 x 1 - 533 TT, MLT-4 radar; + 3 x 1 - 76/62 MMI, 2 x 3 - 324 TT, SPQ-2, 2x RTN-7X radars, SQS-36 sonar
(1968-1969), Canopo; (1970-1971), Centauro; (1972-1973), Cigno: - 2 x 2 - 76/62, 2 x 2 - 40/70, 2 x 1 - 533 TT, MLT-4 radar; + 3 x 1 - 76/62 MMI, 2 x 3 - 324 TT, SPQ-2, RTN-7X radars, SQS-36 sonar
1972, Castore: - RTN-7X radar (2nd)
1970s, all: + WLR-1, SLQ-A ECM suites
Naval service: No significant events.
Canopo 1980
© Ivan Gogin, 2015