The Cassiopea class is a heavy series of four patrol boats of the Italian Navy. They were built in the late 1980s on civilian standards. They are designed for patrol in safe areas.
In the early 1980s the Italian navy developed two classes of corvettes to replace older vessels. The Minerva class were fully combatant ships to serve as coastal escorts, and equipped with modern sensors and armament, while the Cassiopea class were simpler offshore patrol vessels intended to replace the old Albatros-class corvettes used for fisheries patrol.[1][3]
Vega
Construction of four ships (out of eight originally planned) was authorized in December 1982, with funding from the Ministry of Merchant Marine. Orders were placed in December 1986, with construction starting the next year at Fincantieri shipyard, Muggiano. The ships were built to mercantile standards, and the first ship entered service in 1989. A further two ships were cancelled in 1991, prior to the start of construction.[1][4]
Cassiopea
The ships' main gun armament is a single 76mm/L62 Allargato gun; both gun and fire control systems came from scrapped Bergamini-class frigates. Each ship is fitted with a flight deck and fixed hangar to accommodate a helicopter type Agusta-Bell AB-212 ASW of the Italian navy. Each also carries equipment for dealing with pollution.[1] Between 2012 and 2014 all units were fitted with Selex ES IR optronic system. As of 2014 the ships, starting with Libra were fitted with new dual-band navigation (X/Ka) radar systems from GEM Elettronica.
cassiopea, class, patrol, vessel, cassiopea, class, heavy, series, four, patrol, boats, italian, navy, they, were, built, late, 1980s, civilian, standards, they, designed, patrol, safe, areas, patrol, ship, spica, class, overviewnamecassiopeabuildersfincantier. The Cassiopea class is a heavy series of four patrol boats of the Italian Navy They were built in the late 1980s on civilian standards They are designed for patrol in safe areas Patrol ship Spica P 403 Class overviewNameCassiopeaBuildersFincantieri MuggianoOperators Italian NavyCompleted4ActiveCassiopea P 401 Libra P 402 Spica P 403 Vega P 404 General characteristics 1 TypePatrol vesselDisplacement1 130 t 1 112 long tons standard 1 500 t 1 476 long tons full loadLength79 80 m 261 ft 10 in oa 71 50 m 234 ft 7 in ppBeam11 80 m 38 ft 9 in Draught3 60 m 11 ft 10 in Propulsion 2 x shafts 2 x diesel engines Grandi Motori Trieste BL 230 16 propulsion diesels 5 84 kW 7 83 bhp 3 x diesel engine generators Isotta Fraschini ID 36SS6V 1 x diesel engine generator Isotta Fraschini VM V6130T for emergencySpeed21 knots 39 km h 24 mph maximum 20 knots 37 km h 23 mph continuousRange3 300 nmi 6 100 km 3 800 mi at 17 knots 31 km h 20 mph Endurance35 daysCrew6 officers 54 enlistedSensors and processing systems1 SMA SPN 748 V 2 Navigation radar 1 AESN SPS 702 v 2 surface search radar 1 AESN SPG 70 RTN 10X fire control radar 1 GEM Elettronica Gemini DB navigation radarElectronic warfare amp decoysElint equipmentArmament1 OTO Melara 76 62mm Allargato gun 2 OTO Melara 25 80 guns with Oerlikon KBA 25 mm 2 2 7 62 mm MG 42 59 machine gunsAircraft carried1 Agusta Bell AB 212 ASW helicopterAviation facilitiesHangar and flight deck Contents 1 Development and design 2 Ships 3 Notes 4 References 5 External linksDevelopment and design EditIn the early 1980s the Italian navy developed two classes of corvettes to replace older vessels The Minerva class were fully combatant ships to serve as coastal escorts and equipped with modern sensors and armament while the Cassiopea class were simpler offshore patrol vessels intended to replace the old Albatros class corvettes used for fisheries patrol 1 3 Vega Construction of four ships out of eight originally planned was authorized in December 1982 with funding from the Ministry of Merchant Marine Orders were placed in December 1986 with construction starting the next year at Fincantieri shipyard Muggiano The ships were built to mercantile standards and the first ship entered service in 1989 A further two ships were cancelled in 1991 prior to the start of construction 1 4 Cassiopea The ships main gun armament is a single 76mm L62 Allargato gun both gun and fire control systems came from scrapped Bergamini class frigates Each ship is fitted with a flight deck and fixed hangar to accommodate a helicopter type Agusta Bell AB 212 ASW of the Italian navy Each also carries equipment for dealing with pollution 1 Between 2012 and 2014 all units were fitted with Selex ES Janus N IR optronic system As of 2014 the ships starting with Libra were fitted with new dual band navigation X Ka Gemini DB radar systems from GEM Elettronica Ships EditSource 1 Italian Navy Sirio className Pennantnumber Hullnumber Laid down Launched Commissioned MottoCassiopea P 401 5846 5 16 March 1987 19 July 1988 21 October 1989 AdsumLibra P 402 5847 16 March 1987 27 July 1988 23 March 1991 Patiens vigil audaxSpica P 403 5848 5 September 1988 27 May 1989 23 March 1991 Vigile attendoVega P 404 5849 30 June 1989 24 February 1990 8 May 1992 Sempre e ovunqueNotes Edit a b c d e Baker 1998 pp 380 381 Pattugliatori OPV PG In Italian Marina Militare Retrieved 9 July 2012 Gardiner and Chumbley 1995 p 197 Grove 1990 p 95 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2016 11 19 Retrieved 2016 11 18 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link References EditBaker A D The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 1998 1999 Annapolis Maryland USA ISBN 1 55750 111 4 Gardiner Roger and Stephen Chumbley Conway s All The World s Fighting Ships 1947 1995 Annapolis Maryland USA ISBN 1 55750 132 7 Grove Eric J NATO Major Warships Europe Tri Service Pocketbook London Tri Service Press 1990 ISBN 1 85400 006 3 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cassiopea I class patrol boat Cassiopea P 401 Marina Militare websitePortals Italy Engineering Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cassiopea class patrol vessel amp oldid 1119450221, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
