Mirabello-class destroyer, Carlo Mirabello (1923)

LukTroy · June 14, 2024, 9:11pm

[Would you like to see Carlo Mirabello (1923) in-game?]

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Carlo Mirabello in the mid 20s

Carlo Mirabello was the lead ship of the Mirabello class scout cruisers, or “esploratori”.
Her project started in 1913 by the Colonel of the Naval Engineers Naborre Soliani, taking inspiration from the innovative British scout cruiser “Swift”.
Initially it was meant to have larger dimensions and a higher displacement of 5000 tons, making it closer to a light cruiser than a scout cruiser, but later it was reduced to 2000 tons because of financial reasons.
It was a successful design, featuring a powerful main armament, good stability, high speed and maneuverability.

As built, Carlo Mirabello was armed with 8x 102/35 Vickers-Terni main guns, 2x 76/40 Ansaldo AA guns, 2x 6,5/80 Colt machine guns, 2 x 2 450 mm torpedo tubes, and 100 mines. During her service, her cannon armament was changed multiple times:

1917 : one 102/35 gun replaced by a 152/40 cannon, as in other units of the Mirabello class
1919 : all the main guns replaced by 8x 102/45 Ansaldo mod. 1917 cannons
1920-1922 : 2x 76/40 cannons replaced by 2x 40/39 Vickers-Terni 1917

Carlo Mirabello in Brindisi, November 12, 1917; note the 152/40 cannon on the bow of the vessel.

Service history of Carlo Mirabello

WW1:

1915: After completion, Mirabello takes part in operations in the Adriatic.
22/12/1916: Sent on a mission at 17:00 to the Otranto Canal after a recent clash between Italian-French and Austro-Hungarian forces. Arrived too late to see any action.
24/12/1916: Supported destroyers Impavido and Ippolito Nievo in an attack planned by MAS-3 and MAS-6 on Austro-Hungarian ships in Durazzo harbor, but the mission was aborted 3 miles away due to MAS-6 being damaged by wreckage.
14-15/5/1917: Cruised in the Otranto Canal with French destroyers Rivière, Bisson, and Cimeterre. Ambushed by Austro-Hungarian units targeting armed trawlers patrolling the anti-submarine barrier. Mirabello and the French destroyers redirected to the barrage at 04:30, engaged Austro-Hungarian ships SMS Saida, Helgoland, and Novara at 07:10, but the enemy escaped.
10/3/1918: Supported scouts Poerio and Rossarol, destroyers Giacinto Carini and Pilade Bronzetti, and French destroyer Casque in covering MAS 99 and 100 for an attack on Porto Rosa, postponed due to bad weather.
12/5/1918: Left Brindisi to support another action by MAS 99 and 100 to Durres. MAS 99 sank the steamship Bregenz during a night attack on the 13th. The fleet returned unscathed to Brindisi.
9/11/1918: Participated in the occupation of Lissa from Brindisi. In total, performed 65 missions, including laying mines.

Interwar:

1919: Deployed to Kotor (Dalmatia) before the area became part of Yugoslavia.
15/3/1924: Escorted Brindisi to Fiume for the annexation ceremony of the city to Italy.
24/4 - 30/10/1924: Under Captain Vladimiro Pini, traveled over 11,000 miles, visiting various ports in Europe.
1936-1938: Participated in Mediterranean exercises and “neutrality patrols” around Spain. Redesignated as a destroyer in 1938.

WW2:

1939: Fully crewed and prepared, patrolled the southern Adriatic and Ionian Sea, escorting convoys to Albania and Greece.
31/10/1940: Transported special ops teams for a planned landing in Corfu, which was canceled. Instead, landed troops in Vlora.
20/5/1941: Left Brindisi for Patras, encountered a minefield off Cape Dukato on the 21st. Mirabello hit a mine and was scuttled by the crew at 11:45 after unsuccessful damage control efforts. 63 men were rescued, 44 were missing.

general specifications (1923)

Displacement : standard 1840 t; Full load 2377 t.
Length : 103,4 m overrall; 101,1 at water level.
Draught : 3,3 m with normal load; 3,6 with full load.
Breadth : 9,7 m.
Machinery : 2 Parsons steam turbines, 4 Yarrow boilers, 44.000 h. p.
Max speed : 35 knots.
Complement : 169.

Armament and equipment

8x1 : 102/45 Schneider-Ansaldo 1917, protected by a gun shield, probably 8 mm thick.
2x1 : 40/39 Vickers-Terni 1917
2x1 : 6,5/80 Colt machine guns
2x2 : 450 mm torpedo tubes
100 mines

Why I’m proposing her?
Almost all of the low tier Italian destroyers are armed with 2x2 120 mm cannons, making it quite repetitive.
Carlo Mirabello would be quite unique armed with twice the amount of 102 mm guns. The vessel would also feature decent top speed, seakeeping qualities but mediocre AA for BR 3.3-3.7.

Photos and drawings

Real life photos