The torpedo boat as a type of steam warship had it’s heyday at the end of
the 19th Century. The Jeune Ecole (Young School) of the French Navy
had promoted them as the very inexpensive answer to the overwhelming strength of
the Royal Navy. They envisioned swarms of torpedo boats overcoming limited
numbers of battleships and cruisers. Of course every time the mouse gets
smarter, someone invents a better mouse trap. The better trap for the torpedo
boat mouse was the torpedo boat destroyer, later shortened to simply destroyer.
The early destroyers also carried torpedoes and more of them. Accordingly they
supplanted the original torpedo boats. Destroyers are still with us today, even
though their original prey, the surface torpedo boat has disappeared.
Steam powered torpedo boats were widely used during World War One but started
rapidly disappearing after that war. With limited peacetime budgets, the world’s
navies had to shrink. The destroyer as a type was much more versatile and
efficient, so they stayed and the torpedo boat left. The name however, hung on.
As destroyers became larger, some navies designated older, smaller and less
capable destroyer classes as torpedo boats. Italy did this with her World War
One destroyers (Click for Review of the
Italian Three Pipe Destroyers by Regia Marina). The
Kriegsmarine with their T boats did
have a type of warship that still emphasized the torpedo over the gun. However,
they were far larger than previous torpedo boats. The different classes ranged
from 845 to 1297 tons standard. In size and in weapons they were analogous to
the USN destroyer escort or the RN Hunt
Class Escorts. The Regia Marina also built large escorts that were still styled
as Torpedo Boats. As with the German designs, they were in fact destroyer
escorts. Leading into World War Two, Italy built two classes of ships that were
called torpedo boats. The largest of these classes was the Spica
Class. There were 30 in the class. They were stated to be 600 tons displacement
but really came in at 640-650 tons. This was designed to take advantage of the
terms of the Washington and London Treaties that allowed unlimited numbers of
vessels of 600 tons and below to be built. Concurrently with the Spicas,
a larger, more robust and more capable class of "torpedo boats" was
built by the Regia Marina, the four ship Orsa
class.
All four, Orsa, Orione,
Pegaso, and Procione,
were laid down in 1936 and were completed on March 30 and 31, 1938. They
displaced 840 to 884 tons standard and a whopping 1,575 to 1,600 tons full load.
Their offensive strength was in their torpedo fit. They mounted two 3.9-inch
(100mm) guns, eight 13.2mm AA machine guns and six 21-inch torpedo tubes in two
mounts of three tubes. Capable of 28 knots, the size and versatility of the Orsas
made them much closer matches to the destroyer escort than the earlier torpedo
boat. They in fact were originally rated as Escort Vessels (Avisi Scorta)
but were rerated as Torpedo Boats (Torpediniere). With their speed,
maneuverability and range, the design proved very successful. During the war a
follow-on design was introduced, the Ciclone
Class was introduced. The numbers of the new class constructed is a gage to the
value of the Orsas. Sixteen were laid
down and fifteen of these were commissioned before the Italian armistice.
Another design, slightly smaller than the Orsas
was introduced, the Ariete Class.
Sixteen of this class were also built but only eleven were commissioned. The
small displacement Spicas may have
initially had the advantage of numbers but for succeeding classes, the Orsa
was selected as the pattern.
All four members of the Orsa class
were heavily involved with escort duties during World War Two. None were lost to
enemy action, which given the loss rate of the Regia Marina during the war,
certainly says something about their abilities. Pegaso
was the operational star of the group. During her career she sank three British
submarines, the Upholder on April 14,
1942, the Urge on April 28, 1942 and
the Thorn on August 6, 1942. To sink
three submarines in a space of four months is a tribute to the design of the
ship and the skill of her captain and crew. (The instructions also credit her
with sinking the submarine, HMS Triumph)
With the armistice Pegaso, initially
escaped the German takeover but then scuttled herself on September 11, 1943. Procione
could not escape and scuttled herself at La Spezia on September 9, 1943.
Both Orsa and Orione
survived the war to serve in the post war Italian Navy. They were not
stricken until 1964 and 1965. (The bulk of this history is from Destroyers
of World War Two by M. J. Whitley)
RESIN CASTING
When I reviewed the Steel Navy/ Rhino Models HMS
Dreadnought kit a mentioned that it was unusual for a resin
manufacturer to improve a kit after it had been produced. It thought that that
was unique for a 1:350 scale battleship. The current Regia Marina kit for
the Italian Torpedo Boat Orsa is kit
number RM001. The kit was released by Regia Marina in 1996 as kit RM047.
I was able to compare and contrast the 1996 release with the new 2002 release.
The new release is totally revamped from the initial release. The newer kit has
more and finer detail. Major changes were made in the casting that improved the
appearance of the model and simplified construction. Some parts that were
originally separate pieces are cast integral to the hull and fine stainless
steel photo-etched pieces have replaced a number of thicker resin pieces on the
original model. Why should I review and comment on a six year old model? Because
it is the same model from the same company and yet not the same model. Although
you can see that new Orsa is a lineal
descendant of the original model of the Orsa,
the great number of changes and improvements made to this small 1:700 scale
model speak eloquently about the philosophy of Regia Marina.
Old Orsa Parts & New Orsa Parts |
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As a company, Regia Marina is not just content to rest upon its justly
won laurels, it seeks to constantly improve its products and to increase its
high standard of quality. Although a few other resin kits have been improved
during production, I have never seen any other company go to such lengths to
increase the quality of its product.
The new release of the Orsa is
characterized by exacting deck detail. Capstans, breakwater detail, stack
steampipes and depth charge positions have been executed with skill. The elegant
oval lines of the superstructure, that appears in many Italian designs, has been
captured by this model. The most striking features of the hull casting are the
wafer thin shielding and quarterdeck overhang. On the original Orsa
kit the Italian aerial recognition markings (red and white barber pole) was
heavily delineated with lines incised on the deck. I first thought that the new
version had dispensed with marking the lines on deck because I had looked at the
hull a number of times without seeing any lines on the foc’sle. However, while
writing this review, I was looking at the hull again and the light picked up a
slight difference in texture in the casting of the forecastle. The new Orsa
kit still has the striped lines delineated but it is done with texture rather
than incised lines. These textural differences are so subtle that they are
easily overlooked. Since the "barber pole" is one of the most
difficult features to paint on any WW2 Italian warship model, this should
readily facilitate painting this feature without marring the appearance of the
kit for a solid painted deck.
There is slightly more clean up with the Orsa
kit (or other kits from Regia Marina) than some 1:700 kits. There are a
number of resin pour stubs or burrs along the centerline of the bottom of the
kit. It amounts to about five minutes to remove these and sand smooth. The rest
of the cleanup is minimal, involving slight sanding at the waterline and
cleaning light flash from some of the smaller parts.
There are a total of 56 smaller resin parts found on the four resin parts
runners in the Orsa kit. Not all of
these parts are used. Another tenant of the Regia Marina model design
philosophy is to provide to the modeler the greatest number of optional fits as
possible. With almost any kit from Regia Marina, the modeler is
guaranteed to have the options to construct the ship of his choice in the fit of
his choice. Since there were only four ships in the class, the number of options
is less than those found in the Carini,
Italian Three Stack Torpediniere (Click for
Review). Nonetheless at least fourteen different fits are offered for
the Orsa Class, which is remarkable
in its own right for a class of four ships, of which only two survived the war.
The smaller resin parts match the quality and detail as displayed in the hull
casting. The deck housings, AA tubs, boats, torpedo tubes, directors, depth
charge throwers, carley floats, depth charge rack, guns & mounts, paravanes,
anchors and other parts are finely and delicately cast. Neither the hull nor the
smaller resin parts displayed any defects, warp or breakage.
PHOTO-ETCHED FRET
The stainless steel photo-etched fret is the same one that is also included in
the RN Carini (Italian
Three Piper) Torpediniere. It consists of 13.2 MG x 3; 20mm/65 twins x 2;
20mm/65 singles x 6; 20mm/70 singles x 7; De.Te.A Radar; E.C.3/Ter Gufo Radar x
2; propeller guards x 2; davits x 7; three lengths of railing, one short length
of inclined ladder, one short length of vertical ladder, plus others. As with
the resin parts, not all are used during the build. Additionally some of the
parts go to the Carini kit. All in
all, plenty of photo-etch for a small model.
INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions for the Regia Marina Orsa
kit consists of two pages, printed front and back. All text is in Italian, with
color descriptions also appearing in English. Page One has the history of the
class and resin parts matrix. The parts listing in the matrix corresponds to the
letter of the runner and part number on each number. As with the other kits from
Regia Marina (up to the North Carolina/Washington)
the numbers on each runner read left to right with each unique part receiving
its own number and groups of identical parts sharing the same number. Page Two
has seven port & starboard profiles and two additional 1944/45 profiles
displaying the various camouflage schemes worn by the ships. It also includes
painting directions and colors, with Humbrol match in Italian and English. Page
Three has the assembly diagrams. There is a large isometric view and plan &
profile that provide the basic assembly. Two additional bow plans,
superstructure plan, forward and aft superstructure profiles provide variations
based upon the ship or year of fit. The last page includes eight plans, two
profiles and three additional drawings that show armament plans/modifications
and other fit differences. The instructions appear to be photocopies and could
be of better quality. Parts numbers on the assembly diagram correspond to the
parts number on the resin runners.
VERDICT
If you want to capture the elegant lines of a World War Two Italian warship
before jumping to a large project such as the Regia Marina Vittorio
Veneto or Roma, you
can’t go wrong with the Orsa. If
you want to model a lesser known class of Italian warship, one that was
efficient and very successful as a design and in combat operations, the RN
Orsa from Regia Marina may be your best choice.
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