Scout cruiser

Intended for fleet scouting duties and acting as a flotilla leader, a scout cruiser was typically armed with six to ten destroyer-type guns of 3-inch (76 mm) to 4.7-inch (120 mm) calibre, plus two to four torpedo tubes.

All these ships served in World War I, when the advent of better machinery and larger, faster destroyers and light cruisers had already made them obsolete.

Ranging in size from enlarged destroyers to substantial, light cruiser-like ships, these esploratori were also given secondary capabilities as fast minelayers.

Later esploratori, such as the Leone class, carried extremely heavy armament for their modest size, capable of outgunning any destroyer of the early 1920s.

Note: this list includes all vessels rated as scouts (esploratori) by Italy.