Leone Pancaldo was one of twelve Navigatori-class destroyers built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) between the late 1920s. Shortly after Italy’s entry into World War II in June 1940, she was sunk by British torpedo bomber in Augusta, but was later refloated and repaired. She was briefly used in fast troop transport missions to Tunisia until her second and final sinking by Allied aircraft in April 1943.