Italy's RD-class minesweepers carried an old fleet through another war

The roughly 207-ton RD boats were small, lightly crewed, and fitted with whatever armament was available, making exact weapon fits difficult to generalize. Built from 1916 into the 1920s, they belonged to an Italian minesweeping inventory that also included older German and Austro-Hungarian vessels. Although obsolescence reduced the available force by the Second World War, the surviving RD boats still formed the Regia Marina's most homogeneous minesweeping group. Their continued importance shows how specialist auxiliaries can remain operationally essential long after their designs cease to look modern.