Italian destroyer Animoso (1913)

The ships of the Audace class were 74.8 m (245 ft 5 in) long at the waterline and 75.5 m (247 ft 8 in) long overall, with a beam of 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in) and a draft of 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in). They displaced 740 long tons (750 t) standard and up to 840 long tons (850 t) at full load. They had a crew of 4 to 5 officers and 65 to 74 enlisted men. The ships were powered by two Zoelly steam turbines, with steam provided by four White-Forster water-tube boilers. The engines were rated to produce 16,000 shaft horsepower (12,000 kW) for a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), though in service they reached as high as 36.1 knots (66.9 km/h; 41.5 mph) from 15,000 shp (11,000 kW). At a more economical speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph), the ships could cruise for 950 nautical miles (1,760 km; 1,090 mi).[1]

The ship carried an armament that consisted of a single 120 mm (4.7 in) gun and four 76 mm (3 in) guns, along with two 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. The 102 mm gun was placed on the forecastle and the two of the 76 mm guns were mounted abreast the funnels, with the remaining pair at the stern. The torpedo tubes were in single mounts, both on the centerline.[2]

Animoso was built at the Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando shipyard in Livorno, and was launched on 13 July 1913.[1]

The ship saw action against the Austro-Hungarian Navy during World War I. On 11 May 1917, Animoso and the destroyers Ardito, Ardente, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, and Audace caught an Austro-Hungarian flotilla of torpedo boats led by the destroyer Csikós; the Italians gave chase but the Austro-Hungarians managed to escape into a minefield that prevented further pursuit. The same destroyers, less Ardito, attempted to catch a group of five Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats on 17 November off the mouth of the Piave, but again the Austro-Hungarians retreated behind a minefield. Two days later, Animoso and several destroyers intercepted an Austro-Hungarian bombardment group centered on the old coastal defense ships SMS Budapest and Wien, forcing them to abandon the operation. Over the following several days, Animosa took part in several bombardment operations against Austro-Hungarian forces in northern Italy, beginning on 18 November and concluding on the 25th. She covered another such operation on 19 December.[3]

The ship was rearmed in 1919–1920, but she saw very limited service afterward owing to a boiler explosion on 29 July 1921 that severely damaged the ship. Having determined that Animoso was not worth repairing, the navy paid off the ship and eventually struck her from the naval register on 5 April 1923 before subsequently discarding her.[1]

• Cernuschi, Enrico & O'Hara, Vincent (2016). "The Naval War in the Adriatic, Part 2: 1917–1918". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2016. London: Conway. pp. 62–75. ISBN 978-1-84486-326-6.
• Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.