On 31 March 1905, four torpedo boats were laid down at the Italian shipbuilder Odero's Sestri Ponente, Genoa shipyard.

[5] Olimpia and Orfeo were deployed in relief efforts following the 1908 Messina earthquake that devastated Sicily and Calabria on 28 December 1908.

All four ships of the class were active during the Italo-Turkish War, serving in Libyan waters and in the Dodecanese.

[6] During the First World War, the class formed the 1st Torpedo Boat Division, carrying out escort operations in Libyan waters, and between North Africa and Italy.

[5] Orfeo was badly damaged in a collision with the merchant ship Calabria on 10 December 1917, but was repaired.