World War I broke out in 1914, and Italy entered the war on the side of the Allies with its declaration of war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915. At the time, Bersagliere, under the command of Capitano di fregata (Frigate Captain) Lubelli, was part of the 3rd Destroyer Squadron, based at Brindisi, which also included Artigliere, Garibaldino, Lanciere, and their sister ship Corazziere.[8] In the predawn hours of 24 May 1915, Bersagliere and Corazziere entered the waters off Grado to support the raid on Porto Buso, an incursion by the destroyer Zeffiro against the Austro-Hungarian border outpost on the island of Porto Buso in the Grado Lagoon, a part of the larger Marano Lagoon. While Zeffiro attacked the island, Bersagliere and Corazziere guarded against interference by Austro-Hungarian Navy ships and bombarded Austro-Hungarian positions.[8]
On 29 May 1915 Artigliere, Bersagliere, Garibaldino, and Lanciere bombarded the Adria Werke chemical plant in Monfalcone, a production site for poison gases, while Corazziere and their sister ships Alpino and Pontiere provided support.[8] The ships carried out another bombardment of the Adria Werke on 7 June 1915.[8]
On 3 July 1915 Bersagliere was assigned to the 3rd Gruppo (Group) of the 4th Naval Division (or "Cagni" Division).[8] She took part in coastal defense operations and the escort of convoys to the Principality of Albania in 1915–1916.[4] At 01:00 on 6 July 1915 she got underway from Venice with the rest of her squadron and steamed to Porto Buso, then turned in the direction of Savudrija Point (known to the Italians as Punta Salvore) on the northern end of Istria on the coast of Austria-Hungary to conduct an offensive reconnaissance sweep. The sweep yielded no results, and the ships steamed back toward Venice. At 04:30 they were about 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) east of Chioggia, where they were to rendezvous with the armored cruiserAmalfi and another destroyer squadron led by the destroyer Impavido. Plans called for the combined force to sweep the Gulf of Venice in a search for Austro-Hungarian ships. While heading toward the rendezvous, however, Amalfi was torpedoed by the Austro-Hungarian NavysubmarineU-26 and sank in ten minutes.[8]
1916–1918
On 23 February 1916, under the command of Capitano di frgatta (Frigate Captain) Del Buono, Bersagliere joined Corazziere and Garibaldino in escorting 12 steamers and two tugs to Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo) on the coast of Albania.[9] On 24 February, Bersagliere, the auxiliary cruisersCittà di Catania and Città di Siracusa, and the destroyers Ardito and Irrequieto began to bombard advancing Austro-Hungarian troops in Albania who were about to occupy Durrës. In the following days they also bombarded Austro-Hungarian artillery positions on the mountain Sasso Bianco in the Dolomites near Durrës.[8]
Later in 1918, Bersagliere operated in the Dodecanese. 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.
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 (1970). Italian Warships of World War I. Ian Allan. p. 67. ISBN0711001057.
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.
