GUISEPPA DEZZA / TA35
Vessel name : TA35 (ex Guiseppe Dezza / Pilade Bronzetti)
Yard: Cantieri N. Odero & Co. Sestri Pente, Genoa
Built: Keel: 1913
Launch: 26 October 1915
Completed: 15 December 1915
German Service: 9 June 1944
Sunk: 17 August 1944 after hitting a mine off Pula
The vessel was a escort destroyer boat of the Pilo Class, built on the Italian Ligurian coast as one of 8 destroyers.
The vessel measured 73m long, 7.33m wide and was powered by two steam turbines of 18,000HP which were driving two propellors. The boilers were fired by oil, not by coal which was the normal firing mode of these destroyers these days.
She we able to reach 32 knots.
She had one 120/40 calibre gun, four 76/40 calibre guns and two launching tubes for 450mm torpedo's.
After the end of WW1 her armament was changed, and she was fitted with 5 102/35mm guns - additionally AA guns were installed.
At the mid 1920 the design was considered outdated to serve as a destroyer, and she was reassigned as a torpedo boat, and she served various auxiliary task.
Due to political reasons, her name was changed to Guiseppe Dezza in January 1920. After this she served as a training vessel for the Italian Navy. During WW2 she mainly served escorting convoys between Lybia and Sicily.
After the allied invasion of Sicily she was moved to Rijeka for repairs. - however after the Italian capitulation she was found still under repairs there. The Italians tried to scuttle her, but the Germans got her back into fighting condition
She entered German service as the TA 35 in June 1944 were she served to guide vessels along the Dalmatian coast. On the 17th of August 1944 she hit an anchored mine. The massive explosion tore the vessel in two, which sank in just a couple of minutes. She took with her 71 sailors.
GUISEPPA DEZZA - TA35
Destroyer TA35 (Guiseppe Dezza)
Each wreck has drama. On the TA35 all hands lost their life. We should treat these places like war graves and pay the respect the victims deserve.