Italian destroyer Espero (1927)

Italian destroyer Espero was a built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) during late 1920s. She was named after a westerly wind, Espero, or Ponente, common in summer in the Mediterranean. Espero was the first Italian destroyer to be lost in World War II.

Description and Construction
warships were built in 1927-1928 and contained characteristics that can be described as transitional between the ships of the post-World War I period and those built in 1930s. Compared to both of their predecessors, and  vessels, their hull was elongated to accommodate a more powerful propulsion system to gain about 10% more power and increase their speed by 1 knot. Additional side fuel tanks were added which allowed to increase fuel stowage to 446 tons of fuel oil.

Espero like all other Turbine-class boats had a significant overload: their design standard displacement was 1073 LT but in practice it was around 1220 LT. Her deep load was 1670 LT as designed, and ended up being 1715 LT as built. The ship had an overall length of 307.5 ft, a beam of 30.5 ft and a draught of 10.75 ft. She was powered by 2 Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 40000 shp and gave a maximum speed of 36 kn. During the trials the contract speed was exceeded, Espero was clocked at 38.4 kn during trials, but at full load the vessel could reach no more than 33 kn. Steam for the turbines was provided by three Thornycroft 3-drum boilers. Espero carried a maximum of 446 LT of fuel oil that gave her a range of 3800 nmi at 20 kn.

The ship mounted four 45-calibre 120 mm guns in twin mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defense, three 40 mm/39 pom-pom cannons in single mounts were deployed at the time of launching. In early 1930s one of the 40 mm/39 pom-pom guns was removed, and a single mount twin 13.2 mm machine guns were installed. She was fitted with two above-water triple 533 mm torpedo tube mounts, and could also carry 52 mines.

Espero was built at the Ansaldo shipyard in Genoa. She was laid down on 29 April 1925 and launched on 4 April 1927. The ship was completed on 31 August 1927 and after sea trials officially entered the service with Regia Marina.

Service
Together with ITALIAN DESTROYER Ostro, ITALIAN DESTROYER Zeffiro and ITALIAN DESTROYER Borea, after completion Espero was assigned to the 1st Squadron of the I Destroyer Flotilla, based in La Spezia.

After Shanghai Incident which led to hostilities between China and Japan, Italy decided to send two warships and San Marco Battalion to protect their colony in Shanghai. ITALIAN CRUISER Trento and Espero were selected for the mission. Both vessels departed from Gaeta on 5 February 1932 under command of Admiral Domenico Cavagnari. Trento reached Shanghai on March 4, while Espero slowed down by rough weather had to stop off at Saigon before reaching China three days later. After a truce was negotiated between Japan and China, Trento left Shanghai on 14 May 1932 for return journey, while Espero stayed behind for one year to complement and strengthen Italian naval squadron in the Far East.

In 1934 Espero, along with Ostro, Zeffiro and Borea formed the 4th Destroyer Squadron, part of the 2nd Naval Division.

World War II
At the time of Italy entrance into World War II on 10 June 1940, Espero together with sister ships ITALIAN DESTROYER Zeffiro, ITALIAN DESTROYER Ostro and ITALIAN DESTROYER Borea formed 2nd Destroyer Squadron based at Taranto.

On 27 June 1940 Espero, commanded by captain Enrico Baroni, sailed from Taranto at 22:45 for the first war mission, along with Ostro and Zeffiro. The three vessels were to transport to Tobruk two anti-aircraft batteries (10 Breda Model 35 cannons in all), 120 ST of ammunition (450,000 rounds) and 162 members of the Voluntary Militia for National Security.

On 28 June 1940 at 12:10, about 50 mi west of Zakynthos, the convoy was sighted by a British reconnaissance Short Sunderland plane. As they were within striking range of the British 7th Cruiser Squadron, composed of light cruisers HMS Liverpool (C11), HMS Orion (85), HMS Neptune (20), HMS Gloucester (62) and HMAS Sydney (D48), Admiral John Tovey ordered them to intercept the Italians. The Italian column was sighted by the Allied ships around 18:30, about 100 miles north of Tobruk, and at 18:36 Liverpool opened fire from 22000 yd at the surprised Italian flotilla. At 18:59 Orion also opened fire from 18000 yd. The Italian destroyers were theoretically faster than the British cruisers, but due to their age and heavy cargo on board their speed advantage was nullified. In addition, Espero's third boiler turned out to be defective, limiting the destroyer's speed to just 25 kn. Captain Baroni, therefore, decided to sacrifice his ship in order to cover the escape of Zeffiro and Ostro, and ordered them to disengage and sail for Benghazi at full speed. Espero laid smokescreens and conducted evasive maneuvers, engaging Liverpool's division with guns, and simultaneously firing three torpedoes at Orion. While Liverpool and Gloucester took on Espero, the other three cruisers tried to get around the smokescreens to attack the fleeing Ostro and Zeffiro, but were ordered to abandon their pursuit and concentrate on Espero instead. Due to zigzagging Espero managed to avoid being hit, but by 19:20 the range between her and Liverpool had shortened to 14000 yd. In fact, Italians drew first blood, when a single Italian 4.7 in shell hit Liverpool just 3 ft above the waterline, with splinters penetrating the warheads of two torpedoes, but caused little damage otherwise. Despite heavy firing, Espero was not hit until 20:00, when her engine rooms were struck bringing the vessel to a stop. The 7th Squadron expended about 5,000 shells, more than 1,600 of main caliber, before the Italian destroyer was sunk, after 130 minutes of fierce fighting. Sydney rescued 47 out of 225 men from the Italian destroyer, and thirty six more escaped on rafts, but only six of them were later found alive by Italian submarine ITALIAN SUBMARINE Topazio almost 20 days later. Captain Baroni died aboard his ship, and was posthumously awarded the Medaglia d´oro al valor militare.