The Alpino class were a group of two frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s built for the Italian Navy

Marina Militare

The Italian Navy is the navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of military forces of Italy; formed in 1946, from what remained of the Regia Marina . As of 2008, the Italian Navy had 35,200 active personnel with 180 commissioned ships, 19 Floating Docks, and 123 aircraft...

 during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

.

Design

The design was originally conceived as an enlarged version of the Canopo class frigates. The design was however changed radically with a CODOG machinery suite comprising gas turbines and diesels. These ships introduced the use of ship based helicopters and variable depth sonar into the Italian Navy.

The ships underwent significant modernisation in the 1980s with the fitting of new sonar and electronic warfare equipment.

Ships

Initially four ships were planned to be ordered in 1959 to 1961. These ships were to be named Circe, Climene, Perseo and Polluce in honour of the Second World War-era Spica class

Spica class torpedo boat

The Spica-class were a class of torpedo boats of the Regia Marina during World War II. These ships were built as a result of a clause in the Washington Naval Treaty, which stated that ships with a tonnage of less than 600 tons could be built in unlimited numbers...

 torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

s of those names. These ships were postponed while the designs were updated and two ships were ordered in 1962. Both vessels were built by CNR in Riva Trigoso and named after types of soldiers and specifically after two Second World War-era Soldati class

Soldati class destroyer

The Soldati class were a group of destroyers built for the Italian Navy during World War II. The ships were named after military professions...

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s.

Ship	Pennant Number	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned
Alpino	F580	10 June 1967	14 January 1968	31 March 2006
Carabiniere	F581	30 September 1967	28 April 1968	19 November 2008

The ships were used as auxiliary vessels from the mid 1990s. The Carabiniere was used as a trials ship for new missiles (PAAMS

PAAMS

The Principal Anti Air Missile System is a joint French/Italian/British programme for a naval anti-aircraft weapon. The prime contractor is EUROPAAMS, a joint venture between Eurosam and MBDA subsidiary UKAMS . MBDA also owns 66% of Eurosam, in effect giving it a 77% share of the project...

) and radar.