The Italian Turbine Class Destroyers were slightly larger versions of the Sella Class Destroyers of 1922-1923. All eight ships in the class were laid down in 1925. They proved very fast on trials, with RN Turbine attaining 39 ½ knots. There were no significant modifications prior to Italy’s entrance into World War Two. Prior to the war the ships of the class saw action during the Spanish Civil War during 1937.

When Italy declared war against Britain and France, all eight ships were based in Tobruk in Italian Libya. They formed first and second destroyer squadrons. Initially they were tasked to lay mines but also shelled British forces at Sollum, Egypt. On June 16, 1940 Turbine sank the British submarine, HMS Orpheus off Tobruk. They then began to conduct supply runs from Taranto to Tobruk, which proved to be their most common operational employment during the war. These missions were very similar in concept to those conducted by Japanese destroyers during the Guadacanal campaign, pressed into duty as high-speed transports. Within the first three months of the war six of the eight sisterships had been sunk by the Royal and Australian Navies. In the first major clash between the British and Italian navies, on June 28, 1940 Espero, Ostro, & Zeffiro were intercepted near Cape Matapan by HMS Liverpool, Gloucester, Orion, Manchester & HMAS Sydney. The Italian ships were loaded with military cargo, including two units of Blackshirt (Fascist Party) artillery. Because of the cargo, the destroyers couldn’t fire torpedoes. Also, because of the weight of cargo and age of the destroyers, the five Commonwealth cruisers gradually overhauled the three Italians. Sydney sank Espero during a rear guard action that allowed the other two destroyers to escape the overwhelming Commonwealth force. 

The cruisers fired almost 5,000 rounds during the engagement. The only damage to the cruisers was a single hit on Liverpool’s belt and blast damage from their own guns.

The aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm claimed the other five lost in these first three months. July 5, 1940 Zeffiro was sunk in Tobruk harbor by Swordfish from HMS Eagle. During this same attack Euro had her bows blown off and was beached to prevent her from sinking. She was later towed to Taranto and repaired. On July 20, 1940 the Swordfish from Eagle caught Nembo & Ostro in the Gulf of Bomba, near Tobruk, and sank them both with torpedoes. On September 17, 1940 the aircraft of HMS Illustrious claimed two more of the sisters, when Aquilone & Borea were caught in Benghazi harbor. Aquilone hit an air dropped mine and Borea succumbed to bombs. 

Because the six were lost so quickly, it is unlikely that they received any modifications before their loss. However, Euro & Turbine did receive upgraded AA fits as the war progressed. Initially the 1917 model 40mm guns were landed and they received modern 20mm designs. Turbine landed her aft torpedo mount in order to add a gallery for two 37mm guns. The surviving two ships continued their missions as and with supply convoys for the rest of 1940 and all of 1941. Euro was one of the few ships to escape the destruction of the "Duisburg" supply convoy by the British cruisers of Force K. The British force, aware of the location of the convoy, raced out of Malta after sundown to make the interception. On November 9, 1941 at 0100 using radar, Aurora, Penelope, Lively & Lance closed to very short range before executing the pre-planned attack in which the British ships already had targets assigned before making contact. The convoy was caught flat-footed and massacred, losing all seven merchant ships and two destroyers, with another two seriously damaged. 

The smaller castings also live up to the reputation that Regia Marina has earned in the production of high quality resin kits. A number of the smaller parts deserve special mention for the quality of their casting. The mounts for the twin 4.7-inch main guns are not just solid lumps of resin. They are hollow to reflect the gun crew positions, behind and underneath the gun shields. All of the other gun mounts are very detailed, with the mount being resin and the guns being photo-etch or turned metal barrels. Two exceptions to this are the two twin 20mm mounts, which are from the PE fret and the three Model 1917 40mm guns, which are one piece resin castings. The amidships, oval gun tub and the two smaller round wing gun tubs are molded with entrance openings. All you have to do is run a PE ladder to the opening to add some extra detail. The torpedo mounts are very nicely done, exhibiting a great amount of fine detail on these one-piece castings. The only things that you really need to add are the masts. Regia Marina gives a template for these as well as their lengths, 20mm for the foremast and 30mm for the mainmast. Yardarms on both masts are 7mm in length. Since they are simple pole masts, I just cut these lengths from .02 diameter Evergreen plastic rod. 

To me the most striking feature of this kit was the inclusion of all of the AA fits that the ships of this class acquired from 1927 until 1944. It is possible to build any fit that any one of these ships had during this period. The first thing that you must decide is which ship and which year fit you wish to build. From 1927 until 1939 the ships had the two twin 4.7-inch mounts and three Model 1917 40mm guns, one in each wing tub and one on the stern. In 1939 the stern 40mm was landed and two twin 13.2 mm machine guns were added, one in place of the 40mm mount and one in the centerline tub. In 1942 the two survivors, Turbine & Euro, replaced the 40mm in the wing tubs with twin 20mm mounts. In 1943 Turbine landed her aft torpedo mount and added a gallery for two 37mm guns. Regia Marina provides all of the guns, mountings and fittings to replicate any one of these versions. Some directors and superstructure details also changed with the different fits and model comes with these optional parts as well. 

It is important that you study the assembly drawing first. In some instances, mostly AA mounts, more than one part is shown at a location. The part that is used depends upon the ship and fit that you wish to build. With these optional parts Regia Marina provides a key that has the part designator, a drawing of the optional part and the ship or ships that mounted the specific part. Everything is very logically laid out, once you understand how it is presented.