Regulus Torpedo Launcher for Anti-Submarine Torpedo Boat Ship, Royal Italian Navy, circa 1942
Regulus Torpedo Launcher, produced by Navalmeccanica - Castellammare di Stabia - Naples, for the Royal Italian Navy in approximately 1942. This small manual mechanical device, made of nickel-plated bronze, was used on torpedo boats of the Royal Italian Navy, to calculate the directional launch of a torpedo towards an enemy target. In fact, in its "dial" composed of two disk sectors, one of which is revolving, and two cursors placed inside and outside them, they were combined together according to the data set such as: speed and position of the ship, thus establishing the instant of launch of the torpedo.
Based on the data reported on the lid of its case, it is assumed that this instrument could have been used on board the Torpedo boat Aliseo as the acronyms TP and AS were the code abbreviations of the Royal Navy assigned to this ship. Furthermore, it should be considered that both the Aliseo ship and the Regulus Torpedo Launcher were built by Navalmeccanica of Castellammare di Stabia.
As apparently modest as the construction of this Regulus Torpedo Launcher may seem, in reality it is an instrument which, in combination with others and no less the technical skills of the operator, determined the outcome of an attack.
The company was founded in 1942 with headquarters in Naples, incorporating the companies Officine & Cantieri Partnenopei, the Cantiere di Vigliena, the Officine Meccaniche e Fonderie (formerly Hawthorn and Guppy), and the shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia.
In 1940, with Italy's entry into the war during the Second World War, numerous repairs were carried out in the construction site. Important achievements of the war period for the Royal Navy were some Gabbiano class corvettes and the light cruiser Giulio Germanico, all of which took place in the Castellammare di Stabia factories.
In 1943 the equipment was almost completely destroyed and after the war the reconstruction work on the construction sites began.