We are currently improving the navigational structure of the website. This might result in lost links. If you come across a lost link, Please let us know.
Built in the United Kingdom in 1906 by Hawthorns & Co. Ltd of Leith, Scotland, the vessel is equipped with a 188-horsepower reciprocating steam engine driving a single propeller, allowing for a maximum speed of approximately 8 knots. Its main specifications are a gross registered tonnage of 136.70, a length of 33.85 metres, a beam of 6.30 metres, and a maximum draught of 3.04 metres.
In June 1940, the Costanza is requisitioned by the Regia Marina. At the time, it belongs to Società Anonima Pignone of Florence and is registered in the Maritime Compartment of La Spezia as serial number 51. Initially, the Costanza undertakes missions to monitor enemy shipping movements in the Western Mediterranean under the codename “correspondent Beta.” In March 1942, it is selected for conversion to a transport vessel for surface assault craft for the Xa Flottiglia MAS. The modifications, including the installation of crutches and securing points on the deck, are carried out in Naples. By July 1942, the Costanza is deployed to Tobruk, carrying three Motoscafi Turismo Silurante Modificati craft aboard, to support Axis operations in the Mediterranean theatre.
Shortly after its deployment to Tobruk, the light motor torpedo boats aboard the Costanza are reassigned to the Giobbe land convoy. The Costanza returns to Italy in early September 1942 and continues to be occasionally used for transferring Decima craft and materials within Italian waters. At the time of the armistice on September 8th, 1943, the Costanza is in La Spezia, where it is scuttled one day later to prevent capture. Refloated later by the Kriegsmarine, the vessel is sunk again in La Spezia in April 1945.
