Italian destroyer Ascari

Ascari was one of seventeen s, built for the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Construction and career
Ascari, built at the OTO shipyard in Livorno, was laid down on 11 December 1937, launched on 31 July 1938 and completed on 6 May 1939. She was the last ship of the first (pre-war) group of the Soldati class to enter service.

World War II
When Italy entered World War II, on 10 June 1940, Ascari was part of the 12th Destroyer Division, together with sisterships Lanciere, Corazziere and Carabiniere. On 11 June Ascari and her sisterships carried out a reconnaissance mission in the Sicilian Channel.

On 9 July 1940 Ascari and her Division participated in the Battle of Calabria; in the final phase of the battle, the 12th Destroyer Division was ordered to attack the Mediterranean Fleet with torpedoes. Ascari fired a torpedo at a British cruised, but without success. Between late July and early August Ascari was among the escorts in a large convoy operation to Libya, Operation T.V.L..

On 5 October Ascari and the rest of the DesDiv 12 sailed from Taranto as part of the escort of a convoy heading for the Dodecanese (Operation CV), but the operation was cancelled after British battleships were sighted by aerial reconnaissance in the eastern Mediterranean. On 26-27 November 1940, Ascari participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento; during the battle, Lanciere was hit by a British shell that left her dead in the water, and Ascari took her in tow and towed the crippled ship to Cagliari.

In February 1941 Ascari participated in convoy operations between Italy and North Africa, and on 25 February she rescued the survivors of the light cruiser Armando Diaz, that had been torpedoed and sunk by HMS Upright. Between 26 and 29 March 1941 Ascari and the rest of her Division escorted the 3rd Cruiser Division during the Battle of Cape Matapan.

Between March and September 1941 Ascari escorted a number of convoys between Italy and Libya. Most of these convoys were successful, but on 24 May 1941 the troopship Conte Rosso was torpedoed and sunk by Upholder with the loss of nearly 1,300 men.

On 23 September 1941 Ascari and sisterships laid a minefield off Malta, and on the following day they participated in a sortie by the 3rd and 8th Cruiser Division aimed at intercepting a British convoy, without success. On 13 December she took part in a large convoy operation between Italy and Libya, "M. 41", which failed due to heavy attacks by aircraft and submarines. On 16 December Ascari took part in another large convoy operation to Libya, "M. 42", which was successful, and participated in the First Battle of Sirte.

Between January and March 1942 Ascari participated in the escorts of four more large convoy operations to Libya, "M. 43", "T. 18", "K. 7" and "V. 5", that were successful; the only loss during these operations was the troopship Victoria, sunk by Allied torpedo bombers on 24 January 1942 (Ascari shot down a torpedo bomber during the attacks against Victoria, and then rescued her survivors). On 21-22 March Ascari took part in the Second Battle of Sirte.

On 13-14 June 1942 Ascari, attached to the 10th Destroyer Division, participated in Operation Harpoon, attacking a British convoy to Malta together with the 7th Cruiser Division and 14th Destroyer Division. In the subsequent battle Ascari, together with Alfredo Oriani, engaged the escorting British destroyers, scoring hits on HMS Bedouin, and later finished off the steamer Burdwan and tanker Kentucky, previously disabled by air strikes. Between late 1942 and early 1943, Ascari participated in a number of minelaying missions in the Sicilian Channel, as well as escort and troop transport missions between Italy and Tunisia.

On 23 March 1943 Ascari sailed from Palermo carrying German troops towards Tunis, and was joined at sea by the sistership Camicia Nera and two other destroyers, Leone Pancaldo and Lanzerotto Malocello, also carrying German troops. At 7:18 on 24 March, Malocello struck a mine laid by HMS Abdiel about 28 miles north of Cape Bon and was left dead in the water. It was initially thought that the ship had been torpedoed, and Commander Mario Gerini, Ascari ' s commanding officer and also in command of the destroyer group, ordered Pancaldo and Camicia Nera to proceed towards Tunis as he tried with Ascari to bring help to Malocello, that sank about 90 minutes later. While rescuing Malocello ' s survivors, however, Ascari hit in turn three mines, losing her bow and stern and finally sinking at 13:12, about 25 miles north of Zembretta. Some MAS boats sent from Bizerta and Pantelleria reached the scene after about four hours, and could only rescue 59 of the 533 troops and crew aboard Ascari. Commander Gerini was lost together with 193 of his crew and 280 German soldiers.