Signal Bell, Royal Destroyer "Carabiniere", Royal Italian Navy, 1938

Bronze signaling bell, which belonged to the Royal Italian Torpedo Destroyer "CARABINIERE", naval unit squadron leader of the XII Destroyer Squadron of the Royal Italian Navy from 1938 to 1945. The on-board bells used on Royal Navy ships were like a real signaling instrument , but they were not of the swing type used on sailing ships until the 18th century, they were blocked to a special fixed structure and played by moving the clapper to which a large piece of braided rope was tied which also had the purpose of providing weight, so that in navigation could remain stationary and the bell rung only when necessary.

Excellent state of preservation.

Unique and extraordinary heirloom of great historical and collectible interest.

Some hints of history:

The Carabiniere Destroyer was launched on 23 July 1938 and entered service on 20 December of the same year. She was a naval unit of the Royal Navy and later of the Italian Navy.

The main armament consisted of five 120/50 mm Ansaldo guns, in two twin turrets, which, starting from the 1930s, equipped all classes of destroyers built for the Royal Navy and a single gun mounted to replace the 120/15 mm illuminating howitzer on the central deckhouse, which was present in all units of the 1st series.

The anti-aircraft armament consisted of eight 20/65 mm Mod. 1935 machine guns, in four twin systems.

The torpedo armament consisted of six 533 mm torpedo tubes in two triple systems, the anti-submarine armament consisted of two side bomb launchers, depth charges and mines.

The very powerful engine system consisted of two Belluzzo/Parsons type turboreduction units powered by three Yarrow type water tube boilers, which discharged their power onto two propellers; it developed a power of 49,000 horsepower and allowed the ship to reach a very high speed of almost 39 knots, but on the other hand it did not have a high autonomy.

At the beginning of the Second World War he was squadron leader of the XII Destroyer Squadron, which included the twins Lanciere, Ascari and Curazziere.

On 11 June he was sent on patrol in the Strait of Sicily together with the rest of the XII Squadron, the light cruisers Attendolo and Duca D'Aosta).

On 7 July, at 18:40, it left Augusta together with the sectional units and the heavy cruiser Pola, then joining up with the rest of the II Naval Squadron (Cruiser Divisions I, II, III and VII for a total of 10 units and destroyer squadrons IX, this clash, the XII Squadron was sent, with the others, to torpedo counter-attack, the Carabiniere was the only unit of his squadron not to launch even a torpedo.

On the evening of 5 October she set sail from Taranto to escort two transports to Libya (operation «CV»), together with the three ships of the XII Squadron, but returned to port following the sighting of English battleships. In the early afternoon of 26 November he set sail from Messina together with Lanciere and Ascari and the IIIrd Division (heavy cruisers Trento, Trieste and Bolzano), then joining the rest of the Italian team which took part in the inconclusive battle of Cape Teulada: during this clash, between 12.35 and 12.41 on 27 November, the Lancer was immobilized by three 152 mm shells from the British cruiser Southampton; the Carabiniere assisted Ascari who had taken the damaged ship in tow, which was towed slowly to Cagliari with the escort of the III Division.

The Carabiniere in service for the Royal Navy On 9 January 1941 he bombed, together with the destroyers Ascari, Folgore and Fulmine, the Greek positions in Porto Palermo and Pinkerion.

On 25 January he carried out another bombing raid on Pinkerasi (Greece) together with Ascari and Corazziere.

On 8 February 1941 he set sail from Messina together with the Cuirassier and the III Cruiser Division (Trento, Trieste, Bolzano, a formation which then joined the battleships Vittorio Veneto, Cesare and Doria and the X Destroyer Squadrons (Maestrale, Grecale, Libeccio, Scirocco) and XIII (Fusilier, Grenadier, Bersagliere, Alpino) to intercept the British formation headed to Genoa to bomb that city, but was unable to prevent the bombing or to identify the English ships.

From 12 to 13 March it acted as an indirect escort, together with Curazziere, Aviere, the torpedo boat Dezza and the cruisers Trento, Trieste and Bolzano, to a convoy (troop transports Conte Rosso, Marco Polo and Victoria, destroyers Folgore, Camicia Nera and Geniere) en route Naples-Tripoli.

At 5.30 am on 26 March 1941 he set sail from Messina together with the Curazziere and Ascari and the III Cruiser Division (Trento, Trieste, Bolzano), which with various other units - battleship Vittorio Veneto, I Cruiser Divisions (Zara, Pola, Fiume) and VIII (Garibaldi and Duca degli Abruzzi), IX destroyer squadrons (Alfieri, Oriani, Gioberti, Carducci), XIII (Granatiere, Bersagliere, Fuciliere, Alpino), XVI (from Recco, Pessagno) – destined to participate in the «Gaudo» operation , which then resulted in the disastrous battle of Cape Matapan, which ended with the loss of the entire 1st Division and the destroyers Alfieri and Carducci. During this battle the ships of the XII Squadron took part in Gaudo's clash and then escorted the cruisers of the III Division during the Italian retreat, defending them with their own anti-aircraft fire.

On 30 April 1941 it belonged to the indirect escort (with the heavy cruisers Trieste and Bolzano, the light cruiser Eugenio di Savoia and the destroyers Gioberti and Ascari) of a convoy formed by the transports Burma, Marburg, Reichenfels, Rialto and Kybfels sailing from Augsburg and Messina for Libya loaded with supplies for the Afrika Korps (the direct escort was made up of the destroyers Euro and Fulmine and the torpedo boats Castore, Procione and Orione); Although attacked by aircraft and submarines on 1 May, the convoy suffered no damage.

On 25 June it left Messina and joined the indirect escort, formed by the cruisers Trieste and Gorizia and the destroyers Corazziere and Ascari, to a convoy formed by the troop transports Esperia, Marco Polo, Neptunia and Oceania escorted by the destroyers Aviere, Gioberti, Geniere and Freight on the Naples-Tripoli route: after a stop in Taranto on the 27th, the ships reached their destination on June 29th despite some air attacks (which caused minor damage to the Esperia).

From 16 to 18 July it provided indirect escort, together with the cruisers Trieste and Bolzano and the destroyers Ascari and Corazziere, to a convoy composed of the troop transports Marco Polo, Neptunia and Oceania underway, with the escort of the destroyers Gioberti, Lanciere, Oriani, Sapiere and of the torpedo boat Centauro, on the Taranto-Tripoli route: all the ships reached their destination unscathed, also avoiding an attack by the submarine HMS Unbeaten directed against Oceania.

On 23 September he laid a mine field south-east of Malta together with the three units of the XII Squadron, with the escort of Aviere and Camicia Nera.

On 24 September it set sail from Palermo together with the light cruisers Duca degli Abruzzi and Attendolo, the III Division (heavy cruisers Trento, Trieste and Gorizia), the rest of the XII Squadron and the X destroyer Squadron (Maestrale, Grecale and Scirocco) to intercept a convoy British, without success.

On 21 October it was rammed by the steamship Monte Maggiore in the port of Messina, causing damage to the topsides, which were however repaired in a short time.

At 8.10am on 21 November 1941 she left Naples together with Camicia Nera, Aviiere, Curazziere and Geniere and the cruisers Garibaldi and Duca degli Abruzzi to act as indirect escort to two convoys to Libya. The operation failed following air and underwater attacks (which seriously damaged the Duca degli Abruzzi and the heavy cruiser Trieste); the Carabiniere escorted the Duke of Abruzzi on his return journey to Messina; on the 22nd, having reached the Sicilian convoy, it continued towards Reggio together with the Curazziere and the destroyer Turbine.

On 13 December it set sail from Taranto together with the destroyers Corazziere and Geniere to join the covering force of the «M 41» operation (three convoys to Libya made up of 6 merchantmen, 5 destroyers and a torpedo boat), which however was marred by submarine attacks , which sank two transports (the Fabio Filzi and the Carlo del Greco) and seriously damaged the battleship Vittorio Veneto; the Carabiniere was detached to escort the Vittorio Veneto returning to Taranto, together with the destroyers Vivaldi, Da Noli, Aviere, Geniere and Camicia Nera and the torpedo boats Lince and Aretusa.

On 16-17 December 1941 he took part in the «M 42» trafficking operation for Libya as part of the remote escort and in the inconclusive first battle of Sirte.

Following the disbandment of the XII Destroyer Squadron, he was transferred to the XIII.

At 18:50 on 3 January 1942 it set sail from Taranto together with the destroyers Ascari, Alpino, Aviere, Pigafetta, Geniere, da Noli and Camicia Nera, the heavy cruisers Trento and Gorizia and the battleships Littorio, Cesare and Doria to provide indirect escort to the operation «M 43» (three convoys to Libya with a total of 6 merchant ships, 6 destroyers and 5 torpedo boats at sea): all the merchant ships reached their destination on 5 January and at 5pm on that day the «Littorio» group, including the Carabiniere, returned in Taranto.

On 22 January it was part - together with the cruisers Attendolo, Duca degli Abruzzi and Montecuccoli and the destroyers Bersagliere, Fuciliere and Alpino - of the force for close support of the «T. 18" (a convoy made up of the troop transport Victoria - which left from Taranto - and the freighters Ravello, Monviso, Monginevro and Vettor Pisani - which set sail from Messina -, with a load of 15,000 tonnes of materials, 97 tanks, 271 vehicles, 1467 men and the escort of the destroyers Vivaldi, Malocello, da Noli, Aviere, Geniere and Camicia Nera and the torpedo boats Orsa and Castore); the convoy arrived in Tripoli on the 24th, however suffering the loss of the Victoria, sunk by two torpedo bomber attacks.

In mid-February he carried out a search mission in the central Mediterranean basin, together with the III Cruiser Division and the rest of the XIII Destroyer Squadron. At 1.45pm on 16 February, while returning to Taranto from this mission, he was spotted by the British submarine P 36 which attacked him by launching some torpedoes: one of the weapons hit the Carabiniere on the starboard side, removing his bow. The ship, however, managed to stay afloat and, taken in tow first by the old torpedo boat Dezza and then by the tug Instancabile, she was able to arrive in Messina at 8.30 am on 17 February.

In dock in Messina after the torpedoing in Messina the Carabiniere received a false bow so that he could move independently to a shipyard suitable for repairs. After verifying the success of the measure, the unit left Messina on 3 April 1942 arriving in Livorno, after a stop in Naples, on 11 April.

The Carabiniere then received the bow of a sister unit under construction in Livorno, the Carrista. In addition to the major repairs, the ship was also subjected to other works which saw the embarkation of two 20 mm machine guns, an Ec3/ter «Gufo» radar and 2 Breda 37/54 mm machine guns (the latter in place of the torpedo launcher complex stern).

On 9 August 1943 she set sail from La Spezia with the destroyers Gioberti and Mitragliere, escorting the VIII Division (light cruisers Garibaldi and Duca d'Aosta) bound for Genoa. At 6.24pm the formation was spotted off Punta Mesco by the British submarine Simoon, which launched four torpedoes against the Garibaldi; he managed to avoid them with the maneuver, and the Carabiniere did the same, while the Gioberti was hit and sank broken in two. She attacked the Simoon with depth charges, damaging it.

Regolo, machine gunner, rifleman and Carabiniere in line upon returning to Taranto on 23 January 1945. The Carabiniere is the first ship on the left. At the proclamation of the armistice, the ship set sail from La Spezia with the rest of the naval squadron (battleships Italia, Vittorio Veneto and Rome, light cruisers Giuseppe Garibaldi, Attilio Regolo, Duca degli Abruzzi, Eugenio di Savoia, Montecuccoli, destroyers Artigliere, Mitragliere, Legionario, Fusiliere, Velite, Grecale, Oriani) to hand themselves over to the Allies in Malta.

At 3.15pm on 9 September, however, the formation was attacked by German Dornier Do 217 bombers: first the battleship Italia was slightly damaged (by a bomb that fell near the hull), then, at 3.42pm, the battleship Roma was reached by a rocket bomb which, having punctured all the decks, exploded under the keel causing serious damage including a leak in the hull, damage to the anti-aircraft artillery and a disabled machinery space (with speed reduction to 16 knots); ten minutes later the same ship was hit by a second bomb near an ammunition depot: devastated by a colossal explosion, the Roma capsized and sank, breaking in two, in 19 minutes, taking with it 1393 men.

At 4.07pm the XII Squadron to which the Carabiniere belonged (commanded by the frigate captain Gian Maria Bongioanni) together with the machine gunner and rifleman, was sent to rescue the sinking ship; the three destroyers rescued a total of 503 men, 112 of which by the Carabiniere (another 119 were saved by the light cruiser Attilio Regolo and the torpedo boats Orsa, Pegaso and Impetuoso); the Carabiniere and the other units then headed for Porto Mahon in the Balearics, where they arrived at 8.30 am, disembarking the shipwrecked passengers of the Roma.

On 10 September 1943 the machine gunner, rifleman, carabiniere and Regolo were interned in the harbor of Porto Mahon, where they remained until 15 January 1945, when they were able to set sail to return to Italy (the Ursa had a similar fate, while Pegaso and Impetuoso preferred to scuttle themselves): after a stop in Algiers, they arrived in Taranto on 21 January.

During the conflict against the Allies the Carabiniere took part in 161 missions (11 reconnaissance and escort, one mine-laying, 6 anti-submarine fighters, 2 coastal bombing, 5 transport, 42 convoy escort, 42 transfer, 34 training and 18 other) covering a total of 53,710 miles and spending 375 days on construction.

After returning to Italy, from January to May 1945, the ship carried out six missions, three training and three transfer, covering 2321 miles.

Subsequently the ship received the order to move to Ceylon, sailing from Taranto on 8 May (after having undergone some work, including the replacement of the Italian "Gufo" radar with a British "Type 291" model, as well as a camouflage repaint equal to that adopted by the British ships) under the command of Lieutenant Commander Fabio Tani who had assumed command on 25 April 1945, and arriving in Colombo on 31 May, after a difficult navigation (the unit had in fact not been designed to sail in the ocean, nor did the crew have any experience in this regard), to cooperate with the allies in operations against Japan, on which Italy had declared war on 15 July 1945.

The Carabiniere (who had been based in Trincomalee, on the east coast of Ceylon) was assigned the task of escorting the English ships (especially aircraft carriers) and recovering the crews of the crashed aircraft, carrying out 38 missions in three months of activity, until 4 August 1945.

Once the hostilities ended, the Italian soldiers presented themselves at the Ceylon command to say goodbye to the British allies whose respect and respect they had earned. Admiral Power, commander of the Eastern Fleet, intending to underline the Italian work with an award and not being able to confer military decorations on the Italian soldiers, decided to offer Commander Tani a gold watch with 38 rubies, one for each mission accomplished with the British.

Commander Tani politely refused the gift and asked in exchange for the release of 38 Italian prisoners, one for each ruby. Commander Tani returned home with 38 men released from the prison camps of Ceylon and entrusted to him.

Based on the clauses of the peace treaty, units of the Soldati class that survived the Second World War Grenadier and Carabiniere became part of the Italian Navy.

Following Italy's entry into NATO in March 1953, it had the new optical badge D 551 to replace the old identification code CB which had distinguished it until then.

After being converted into an experience ship, the Carabiniere was subjected to modernization work starting from February 1953 which was carried out at the Taranto arsenal and concluded over two years later in April 1955. At the end of this work the appearance of the unit was significantly modified, with the lengthening of the castle towards the stern and corresponding raising of the bulwark, but above all for the new structure which included the command bridge, the artillery firing direction and the C.O.C. (Combat Operations Centre) similar to the C.I.C. (Central Information Combat) of the American naval units, in which the information coming from all the sensors (radar, depth finder...) of the ship converged.

The main armament saw the removal of one of the two twin 120/50 mm turrets and was reconfigured into three 120/50 mm guns in two shielded systems, a single one on the castle and a twin one on the aft deckhouse, the removal of all the The anti-aircraft armament was replaced by six 40/56 mm Bofors MK 1 machine guns in three twin complexes aft of the funnel and on the deckhouse in a central position, while the anti-submarine armament consisted of two bomb launchers mod. “M” abaft the stern mast and two German-type stern hoppers of 4 b.t.g each.

As regards electronics, the ship was equipped with an American "QGB" type sounder, a radar for navigation and surface detection and an "AN/SPS 6" type air-naval detection radar.

In her new configuration the ship carried out team activities until 1958, when she went into reserve, to then be rearmed as a unit to test new weapons and equipment at the Mariperman La Spezia study.

Starting from 1 December 1960, the Carabiniere was again reclassified and used as an "Experience Ship", with the new optical badge A 5314. In 1964 the unit was placed in reserve and on the evening of 14 January 1965 it was laid up with the ceremony of the last flag lowering carried out on the docks of the port of La Spezia moored between the destroyers Intrepido and Impavido.

After disarmament, the Carabiniere was used as a target for the raiders at Varignano until the early seventies, when it was replaced in this task by the frigate Altair, when the buoyancy became precarious, and it was transferred and moored in the area of the Varicella Dam awaiting the demolition. In March 1978 she was sold for demolition to a shipyard in Ortona; as soon as the towing for the transfer to the construction site began, due to the rough sea and the numerous leaks that had opened in the meantime, she began to take on water just outside the breakwater of La Spezia; she attempted to tow her back towards the shore, but she hit her starboard side and sank to shallow water, remaining mostly surfaced.

After being recovered, in the months following the sinking, the wreck of the Carabiniere was demolished in a construction site in La Spezia.