| History | |
|---|---|
 Kingdom of Italy | |
| Name | Giuseppe La Farina |
| Namesake | Giuseppe La Farina (1815–1863), Italian patriot, essayist, and politician |
| Builder | Cantieri navali Odero,Sestri Ponente,Kingdom of Italy |
| Laid down | 29 December 1917 |
| Launched | 12 March 1919 |
| Completed | 18 March 1919 |
| Commissioned | 19 March 1919 |
| Identification | Pennant number LF |
| Reclassified | Torpedo boat 1929 |
| Fate | Sunk 4 May 1941 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 72.5 m (237 ft 10 in) (waterline) |
| Beam | 7.3 m (23 ft 11 in) |
| Draught | 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 33.6knots (62.2 km/h; 38.7 mph) |
| Range |
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| Complement | 4officers, 74non-commissioned officers and sailors |
| Armament |
|
Giuseppe La Farina was an ItalianLa Masa-classdestroyer.Commissioned into service in the ItalianRegia Marina ("Royal Navy") in 1919, she participated in operations related to theCorfu incident in 1923. Reclassified as atorpedo boat in 1929, she took part in theMediterranean campaign ofWorld War II until she was sunk in 1941.
Giuseppe La Farina waslaid down at theCantieri navali Odero (English:OderoShipyard) inSestri Ponente,Italy, on 29 December 1917. She waslaunched on 12 March 1919 and completed on 18 March 1919.[1] She wascommissioned on 19 March 1919.
During theCorfu incident between Italy and theKingdom of Greece, a force composed ofGiuseppe La Farina, thebattleshipsConte di Cavour andGiulio Cesare, thearmored cruisersSan Giorgio andSan Marco, the destroyersGenerale Antonio Cascino,Generale Carlo Montanari,Giacinto Carini, andGiacomo Medici, the torpedo boatPremuda, the coastal torpedo boats50 OS and53 AS, themotor torpedo boatsMAS 401,MAS 404,MAS 406, andMAS 408, and thesubmarinesAgostino Barbarigo andAndrea Provana departedTaranto, Italy, on the evening of 30 August 1923 bound forCorfu with orders to occupy the island. The Italian ships arrived off Corfu on 31 August and communicated to the Greek governor of the island the conditions of surrender, which required lowering of theGreek flag and raising theItalian flag over the island, disarming all Greek soldiers andgendarmes, ceasing all communications, and ceding control of all activities on the island to Italian authorities. Not receiving a satisfactory answer to these damands, the Italian ships opened fire at 16:00, bombarding the Old Fortress and the New Fortress for 15 minutes. Refugees had taken shelter there, and the Italian bombardment killed 10 of them and injured several others. The Greek governor then surrendered and the Italian expeditionary force — made up of sailors from the Italian ships, the ItalianRoyal Army's 48th InfantryRegiment "Ferrara" (equipped with abattery of eight 75 mm guns), and an infantrybrigade of 5,000 men — landed on Corfu. Most of the ships then returned to Taranto, butGiuseppe La Farina and the other four destroyers as well as one of the armored cruisers, the submarines, and the MAS boats remained at Corfu. Once Italy and Greece resolved their disagreement, the rest of the Italian ships and the expeditionary force on the island left Corfu between 24 and 29 September 1923.[2]
In 1929,Giuseppe La Farina and hersister shipsAngelo Bassini,Giacinto Carini, andNicola Fabrizi formed the 5thDestroyer Squadron, which together with the five-ship 6th Destroyer Squadron and the scout cruiserCarlo Mirabello constituted the 3rdFlotilla of the 2nd Torpedo BoatDivision, a component of the 2ndSquadron, based at Taranto.[3]Giuseppe La Farina was reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929.[4]
World War II broke out in September 1939 withNazi Germany'sinvasion of Poland.Fascist Italy joined the war on the side of theAxis powers with itsinvasion of France on 10 June 1940. At the time,Giuseppe La Farina was part of the 5th Torpedo Boat Squadron, along with the torpedo boatsAlbatros,Giuseppe Cesare Abba,Giuseppe Dezza, andSimone Schiaffino. During the war, she mainly served as an escort on the shipping routes between Italy andLibya.[5] On 2 November 1940 she got underway fromTripoli, Libya, escorting thesteamersPallade andSnia Amba. During the voyage, the BritishsubmarineHMS Tetrarchtorpedoed and damagedSnia Amba offBenghazi, Libya, on 4 November 1940.[6]
Between late 1940 and early 1941Giuseppe La Farina underwent a revision of her armament which saw the removal of two 102-millimetre (4 in) guns and twotorpedo tubes and the replacement of her 76-millimetre (3 in) guns with six 20-millimetreautocannons.[4] On 18 April 1941 she departedPalermo,Sicily, with the torpedo boatsAntonio Mosto andCalliope to escort aconvoy initially composed of the steamersIsarco,Maddalena Odero, andNicolò Odero to Tripoli. During the voyage, thetankersAlberto Fassio andLuisiano and torpedo boatsClimene andOrione joined the convoy, which reached Tripoli on 21 April 1941.[7]
On 3 May 1941,Giuseppe La Farina got underway from Tripoli to escortLuisiano toTrapani, Sicily. At 05:30 on 4 May she struck amine offTunisia near theKerkennah shallows.[5][8] The explosion broke her in two at her centralfunnel, and she sank in less than two minutes at34°35′N011°50′E / 34.583°N 11.833°E /34.583; 11.833 (Giuseppe La Farina) with the loss of 61 of her 128 crew.[9][10][11] In all, she had conducted 35 escort missions and 12antisubmarine patrols during the war.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in May 1941 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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