Spica-class torpedo boat

Torpedo boat Cassiopea
Class overview
Operators	Regia Marina  Swedish Navy  Italian Navy
Preceded by	Curtatone class
Succeeded by	Ariete class
Built	1934–1937
In service	1935–1964
Completed	32
Lost	21 to Italian armistice (23)
Retired	8
General characteristics
Type	Torpedo boat
Displacement	795 long tons (808 t) standard 1,020 long tons (1,040 t) full load
Length	83.5 m (274 ft)oa
Beam	8.1 m (27 ft)
Draught	2.55 m (8 ft 4 in)
Installed power	19,000 hp (14,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 boilers, 2 steam turbines, 2 shafts
Speed	34 kn (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Complement	116
Sensors and processing systems	Sonar and hydrophones
Armament	3 × 100 mm 100/47 dual-purpose guns 8 × 13.2 mm anti-aircraft machine guns in 4 × twin mounts, later replaced by: 6–11 × 20 mm Breda 20/65 mod. 35 AA guns 4 × 450 mm torpedo tubes (single or twin mounts; various permutations) Up to 20 mines

The Spica-class was a class of torpedo boats of the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) during World War II. These ships were built as a result of a clause in the Washington Naval Treaty, which stated that ships with a tonnage of less than 600 could be built in unlimited numbers. Thirty-two ships were built between 1934 and 1937, thirty of which entered service with Italy.

Called torpedo boats due to their smaller displacement, the Spica-class had armament similar to destroyers (influenced by the Maestrale-class destroyer) and were intended for anti-submarine operations but also had to fight aircraft and surface ships. Twenty-three vessels were lost during the war, two had been sold to the Swedish Navy in 1940 and were called destroyers until 1953, and then renamed to corvettes.