The ship was built for the Italian Navy by the shipbuilder Ansaldo at their Genoa shipyard with the name Arturo in 1943, but was incomplete when Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, and was seized by Nazi Germany.

The ship entered service as TA24 in October 1943, serving in the Tyrrhenian Sea and was sunk by British destroyers on 18 March 1945.

The Ariete class was an enlarged derivative of the Italian Spica-class torpedo boat, intended to defend convoys from Italy to North Africa from attacks by British submarines and surface ships.

To give the ships a chance of fighting British cruisers and destroyers, the Arietes had a heavier torpedo armament, sacrificing a 100-millimetre (3.9 in) gun and some speed to accommodate this.

[6] On 22–23 December 1943, TA24, the torpedo boat TA23 (formerly the Italian Impavido) and the minelayer Niedersachsen laid a minefield off the north coast of Corsica.

[11] TA24 continued to be heavily employed on minelaying and reconnaissance operations during July 1944, clashing several times with Allied coastal forces.

The two British destroyers Lookout and Meteor were ordered to engage the German ships, in what became the final major surface battle involving German warships of the war, with the two British destroyers setting separate intercept courses.