On 3 December 1915 Indomito, Impetuoso , Insidioso, Intrepido, and Irrequieto got underway from Brindisi to escort one of the first supply convoys for Italian troops in Albania. As the convoy — composed of the troop transports Re Umberto and Valparaiso, carrying a total of 1,800 men and 150 draft animals — approached Shëngjin (known to the Italians as San Giovanni di Medua) on the coast of Albania, Re Umberto, with 765 men on board, hit a mine laid by the Imperial German NavysubmarineUC-14, broke in two, and sank in 15 minutes. Rescuers saved 712 men.[3][4][5]
On 9 December 1915 Indomito and the destroyer Euro escorted the auxiliary shipSterope from Taranto to Vlorë (known to the Italians as Valona) in Albania.
1916
On 23 February 1916 Indomito, Impetuoso, Ardito, and the protected cruisers Libia and Puglia positioned themselves in the harbor at Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo) in Albania to protect the withdrawal of the "Savona" Brigade.[4]
At 21:00 on 11 December 1916 Indomito and Ardente got underway from Vlorë to escort the battleshipRegina Margherita to Italy, but shortly after departure Regina Margherita hit two mines less than 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) from Vlorë, capsized, and sank in just seven minutes with the loss of 674 lives. Only 275 members of her crew were saved.[4][6] Later in December 1916 Indomito underwent repairs at the Venetian Arsenal in Venice.[4]
1917
On the night of 14–15 May 1917, the Battle of the Strait of Otranto began when the Austro-Hungarian Navy staged a two-pronged attack against the Otranto Barrage in the Strait of Otranto aimed both at destroying naval drifters — armed fishing boats that patrolled the anti-submarine barrier the barrage formed — and, as a diversionary action, at destroying an Italian convoy bound from Greece to Albania. At 04:10 on 15 May, after receiving news of the attack, Indomito, Impavido, Insidioso, the protected cruiser Marsala, the scout cruisersAquila and Carlo Alberto Racchia, and the British Royal Navylight cruiserHMS Liverpool made ready for sea at Brindisi. At 05:30 the formation left Brindisi together with the British light cruiser HMS Dartmouth and two other destroyers, and at 07:45 the Allied force sighted the Austro-Hungarian destroyers Balaton and Csepel. Aquila and the Italian destroyers steered to attack the two Austro-Hungarian ships at 08:10 and opened fire on them at 08:15. In the ensuing exchange of gunfire, Balaton suffered damage and Aquila was hit and immobilized immediately afterwards. The two Austro-Hungarian destroyers ultimately took shelter under the cover of Austro-Hungarian coastalartillery batteries, forcing the Italian ships to give up the pursuit. Following a clash in which other Italian and Austro-Hungarian ships also participated, the battle ended with some ships damaged on both sides, but none sunk.[4]
On 9 June 1917 Indomito, now under the command of an officer named Da Sacco, escorted a convoy of merchant ships headed to Plataria, Parga, Murzo, and Igoumenitsa in the Epirus region of Greece carrying 1,700 men, 200 draft animals, and 300 tons of supplies.[4] On 16 July 1917 Indomito, Impavido, Insidioso, Carlo Alberto Racchia, and the scout cruiser Augusto Riboty operated in distant support of an Italian air attack against Durrës carried out by 18 aircraft flying from Brindisi and Vlorë and supported by the torpedo boatsArdea and Pegaso.[4]
An Austro-Hungarian Navy force consisting of the scout cruiser Helgoland and the destroyers Balaton, Csepel, Lika, Orjen, Tátra, and Triglav left Cattaro on 18 October 1917 to attack Italian convoys. The Austro-Hungarians found no convoys, so Heligoland and Lika moved within sight of Brindisi to entice Italian ships into chasing them and lure the Italians into an ambush by the Austro-Hungarian submarines U-32 and U-40. Indomito got underway from Brindisi with Aquila, the scout cruiser Sparviero, the destroyers Antonio Mosto and Giuseppe Missori, the British light cruisers HMS Gloucester and HMS Newcastle, and the French Navy destroyers Bisson, Commandant Bory, and Commandant Rivière to join other Italian ships in pursuit of the Austro-Hungarians, but after a long chase which also saw some Italian air attacks on the Austro-Hungarian ships, the Austro-Hungarians escaped and all the Italian ships returned to port without damage.[4]
By late October 1918, Austria-Hungary had effectively disintegrated, and the Armistice of Villa Giusti, signed on 3 November 1918, went into effect on 4 November 1918 and brought hostilities between Austria-Hungary and the Allies to an end. World War I ended a week later with an armistice between the Allies and the German Empire on 11 November 1918.
Post-World War I
After the end of World War I, Indomito′s armament was revised, giving her five 102 mm (4 in)/35-caliber guns, a single 40 mm (1.6 in)/35-caliber gun, and four 450-millimetre (17.7 in) torpedo tubes.[7] She was reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929[7] and stricken from the naval register 11 July 1937.[7][8]
Favre, Franco. La Marina nella Grande Guerra. Le operazioni navali, aeree, subacquee e terrestri in Adriatico (in Italian).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Fraccaroli, Aldo (1985). "Italy". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 252–290. ISBN978-0-87021-907-8.