16 January, 1931-The Talian navy's program kicks off!
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-In 1930, the Talian government authorized huge amounts of additional naval funding, which in the early stages went towards the construction of minor units like tugs, fleet tenders, harbor vessels, submarines, gunboats, and in this case, patrol craft. The new design for the G-30 class boats was intended to provide a cheap, modular combatant that could be built in huge numbers and used for various mission roles. These roles included fire support, laying mines, coastal defense and trade interdiction, and escort/protection duties. They were very experimental in that the Talians were trying to give missions normally carried out by vessels like destroyers and cruisers onto a hull the size of a speedboat. They proved effective under certain circumstances, especially if they were in smooth seas and not facing destroyers. The initial construction plan called for up to 750 units, but that was cut back to about 500. 50 boats were to be armed with two 12.7-mm machine guns for coastal patrol and colonial duties, 50 boats were built with two barbettes for twin 13.2-mm AA guns, while 200 torpedo and 200 minelayer versions were constructed. The minelayer boats had room for 18 mines, which could be either ASW charges or stationary ground mines for use against surface targets. The initial 25 torpedo craft carried a single rotating 1 x tube mount for 17.7-inch fish, but this was deemed ineffective and swapped for a more effective twin 17.7-inch mounting. This was used in the rest of the class, and proved effective in calm seas. It was underpowered, however, compared to the twin 21-inch mountings or triple 17.7-inch launchers used in later, larger classes. In total, around 25 were deployed in the Red Sea, while 10 more were based in Tsingtao. The Red Sea anchorage had 10 minelayers, 5 AA craft, and 10 torpedo boats. The entirety of the MG-Armed batch was deployed in the Mediterranean, as were the remainder of the AA craft. In Tsingtao, there were 8 torpedo boats and 2 minelayers. In 1940, 4 new torpedo boats arrived along with 1 AA boat and 2 MG boats, transported either by steamer or long range heavy floatplane. They provided active service throughout 1940-41, their most intense period of combat as they held on until better torpedo boats could be produced. Their engagements included mining the area between Turkey and Cyprus, sinking Allied evacuation craft in Crete, and convoy/ASW missions against Malta. In total, around 275 of the class were lost in combat, the rest remained in service to form a significant part of the post-war Talian naval force, being replaced in the 1960's. 15 were sold to Turkey, another 5 to Egypt, and 14 to Brazil. The standard Talian versions were propelled by a 50-horsepower 4-cylinder engine, with gave them a speed of up to 50 knots or better.
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