Velite was one of nineteen s built for the (Royal Italian Navy) in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Completed in mid-1942, she was the last of the second batch of seven ships to be finished.
Design and description
The Soldati-class destroyers were slightly improved versions of the preceding . They had a length between perpendiculars of and an overall length of . The ships had a beam of and a mean draft of and at deep load. The Soldatis displaced at normal load, and at deep load. Their wartime complement during was 206 officers and enlisted men.
Velite was powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam supplied by three Yarrow boilers. Designed for a maximum output of and a speed of in service, the second batch of Soldati-class ships reached speeds of during their sea trials while lightly loaded. They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at a speed of and at a speed of .
Velites main battery consisted of four 50-caliber guns in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure. On a platform amidships was a 15-caliber 120-millimeter star shell gun. Anti-aircraft (AA) defense for the second-batch Soldatis was provided by eight to twelve Breda Model 1935 guns. The ships were equipped with six torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships. Although they were not provided with a sonar system for anti-submarine work, they were fitted with one or two pairs of depth charge throwers. The ships could carry 48 mines.