Archimede-class submarine

Last updated
Class overview
NameArchimede class
Builders Cantieri navali Tosi di Taranto, Taranto
Operators
Built1930–1934
In service1933–1958
Completed4
Lost1
Retired3
General characteristics
Type Submarine
Displacement
  • 986  t (970 long tons) (surfaced)
  • 1,259 t (1,239 long tons) (submerged)
Length70.5 m (231 ft 4 in)
Beam6.87 m (22 ft 6 in)
Draft4.12 m (13 ft 6 in)
Installed power
  • 3,000  bhp (2,200  kW) (diesels)
  • 1,100 hp (820 kW) (electric motors)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) (surfaced)
  • 7.7 knots (14.3 km/h; 8.9 mph) (submerged)
Range
  • 10,300  nmi (19,100 km; 11,900 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) (surfaced)
  • 105 nmi (194 km; 121 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) (submerged)
Test depth90 m (300 ft)
Crew55
Armament

The Archimede class were a group of four submarines built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) in the early 1930s. The boats fought in the Spanish Civil War (under the Nationalist flag) and in World War II. In Spanish service, two boats were known as the General Mola class; these were taken out of service in 1959.

Contents

Design

The ships were designed by the firm Cavallini and were a partially double hulled design. They were an enlarged version of the Settembrini-class submarine with ballast tanks rearranged, greater range, fuel and torpedo capacity for ocean service. Like most of the later ocean-going submarines of the Italian navy, their deck armament consisting of two 100 mm (3.9 in) guns was conceived to deal with armed merchantmen in surface combat. [1] [lower-alpha 1] They also mounted two 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft machine guns. [6] The number of torpedoes was increased from 12 on the Settembrini class to 16. [7]

Boats

All boats were built by the shipyard of Franco Tosi at Taranto, between 1930 and 1934.

Torricelli and Archimede took part in the Spanish Civil war under the Italian flag since 1936, carrying out undercover operations. Eventually both submarines were secretly delivered to the Spanish nationalists in April 1937. [8]

List of Archimede-class submarines
ShipNamesakeLaunchedFate
Archimede / ​General Sanjurjo Archimedes/​ Jose Sanjurjo [lower-alpha 2] 10 December 1933During the second half of 1936 she operated in Spanish waters covertly as Archimede. Transferred to the Spanish nationalist navy in April 1937, renamed General Sanjurjo. She sank the Republican troop transport Ciudad de Barcelona on 30 May 1937 and the British Endymion near 37°19′3″N1°3′16″W / 37.31750°N 1.05444°W / 37.31750; -1.05444 on 21 January 1938. [9] Involved in an incident with HMS Torbay on 7 February 1943, during WWII, after the British submarine misidentified her as Italian. [10] Stricken in 1959 [6]
Galileo Ferraris Galileo Ferraris 11 August 1934Sunk 25 October 1941 off Gibraltar by the combined action of a RAF PBY-5A Catalina flying boat and the destroyer HMS Lamerton at the position 37°07′0″N14°19′0″W / 37.11667°N 14.31667°W / 37.11667; -14.31667
Galileo Galilei Galileo Galilei 19 March 1934On 16 June 1940, she sank the Norwegian tanker James Stove off Aden, in the Red Sea. Captured two days later by the British armed trawler HMS Moonstone. Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS X2, scrapped in 1946
Evangelista Torricelli / ​General Mola Evangelista Torricelli/​ Emilio Mola [lower-alpha 3] 27 March 1934She torpedoed and disabled the Republican Almirante Cervera-class cruiser Miguel de Cervantes in 1936, still under Italian flag as Torricelli. Transferred to the Spanish nationalist navy in April 1937, renamed General Mola. She sank the Republican transport Cabo Palos on 26 July 1937 and the Dutch freighter Hanna on 2 January 1938. [11] She also damaged beyond repair the Greek Lena on 30 March. [12] Stricken in 1959 [6]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ That was the case of the Marcello-class submarine Comandante Cappellini, which on 5 and 14 January 1941 sank the British steamship Shakespear and then engaged in gunnery with the cargo/passenger ship (additionally carrying 100 troops [2] Eumaeus off Cabo Verde when two torpedoes failed to sink it. [3] Another example occurred when the Brin-class submarine Torricelli faced three British destroyers and a sloop while surfaced in the Red Sea. Before being sunk, the submarine hit the sloop and damaged the destroyer HMS Khartoum but was sunk in the action. A torpedo fault later the day caused a fire which led to magazine explosion and Khartoum was beached at Perim but the cause is not attributed to the gun battle. [1] [4] [5]
  2. ↑ José Sanjurjo was one of the leaders of the nationalist uprising, he was killed in an aircraft accident in July 1936
  3. ↑ Mola was the third of the leaders of the July 1936 military coup that started the civil war. After his death in an aircraft accident Franco was left as the leader of the Nationalists.

Related Research Articles

<i>Regia Marina</i> 1861–1946 branch of Italian military; predecessor of the Marina Militare

The Regia Marina (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic, the Regia Marina changed its name to Marina Militare.

Italian submarine <i>Iride</i> Submarine of the Royal Italian Navy

Italian submarine Iride was a Perla-class submarine built for the Royal Italian Navy during the 1930s. Originally, she was named Iris until July 1936, but was renamed shortly before her launch.

Italian submarine <i>Galileo Galilei</i> Italian submarine

Galileo Galilei was one of four Archimede-class submarines built for the Regia Marina during the early 1930s. She was named after Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer and engineer.

<i>Marcello</i>-class submarine

The Marcello class was a class of nine submarines built in 1937 and 1938 by CRDA in Trieste for the Royal Italian Navy. Two similar submarines built in 1939 at La Spezia by Oto Melara are sometimes considered part of the class. All eleven served in the Mediterranean Sea at the start of the Second World War. After Provana's 1940 sinking, the remaining boats were transferred to the BETASOM Atlantic submarine base at Bordeaux in August 1940. After four boats had been sunk in the Atlantic, Barbarigo and Comandante Cappellini were then selected for conversion to "transport submarines" in order to exchange rare or irreplaceable trade goods with Japan. Cargo capacity of 160 tons reduced reserve buoyancy from 20–25% to 3.5–6%; and armament was reduced to defensive machine guns. Only Dandolo was in operational condition at the end of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Sea Flotilla</span> Military unit

The Red Sea Flotilla was part of the Regia Marina Italiana based at Massawa in the colony of Italian Eritrea, part of Italian East Africa. During World War II, the Red Sea Flotilla was active against the East Indies Station of the Royal Navy from the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940 until the fall of Massawa on 8 April 1941.

<i>Brin</i>-class submarine Italian submarine class

The Brin-class submarine was a group of five long-range submarines built for the Royal Italian Navy during the 1930s.

Spanish submarine <i>C-3</i>

C-3 was a C-class submarine of the Spanish Republican Navy. C-3 was built by Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN) in Cartagena, Spain, launched 20 February 1929, and commissioned on 4 May 1929. She took part in the Spanish Civil War on the government side before being sunk by the German submarine U-34 on 12 December 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvatore Pelosi</span>

Salvatore Pelosi was an Italian naval officer who fought in World War II. As commander of the submarine Torricelli he made a gallant last stand against overwhelming British naval forces in June 1940.

Archimede was a Brin-class submarine built for the Royal Italian Navy during the 1930s.

<i>Argonauta</i>-class submarine Spanish historical submarine

The Argonauta-class submarine was the first sub-class of the 600 Series of coastal submarines built for the Regia Marina during the 1930s. Some of these boats played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists. Of the seven boats built in this class, only a single one survived the Second World War.

Italian submarine <i>Onice</i> Italian submarine

Onice was a Perla-class submarine built for the Regia Marina during the 1930s. She played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists.

Archimede was the lead ship of her class of four submarines built for the Regia Marina during the early 1930s. She was transferred to the Armada Española of Nationalists in 1937, renamed General Sanjurjo, and served in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939.

Evangelista Torricelli was one of four Archimede-class submarines built for the Regia Marina during the 1930s. She served in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, and was transferred to the Armada Española of Nationalists in 1937, renamed as General Mola.

Galileo Ferraris was one of four Archimede-class submarines built for the Regia Marina during the early 1930s. She played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists.

The Settembrini class was a pair of submarines built for the Regia Marina during the late 1920s. They played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists.

The Bandiera-class submarines were built for the Regia Marina during the late 1920s. They played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists.

Luigi Settembrini was the lead ship of her class of two submarines built for the Regia Marina during the early 1930s. She played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists.

Jalea was one of seven Argonauta-class submarines built for the Regia Marina during the early 1930s. She played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists.

Jantina was one of seven Argonauta-class submarines built for the Regia Marina during the early 1930s. She played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists, and was later sunk during World War II.

References

  1. 1 2 Bishop, Chris (2002). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,500 Weapons Systems, Including Tanks, Small Arms, Warplanes, Artillery, Ships, and Submarines. Sterling Publishing. p. 442. ISBN   1-58663-762-2.
  2. ↑ Comandante Alfredo Cappellini (CL, I.4, UIT.24) Cappellini)
  3. ↑ D'Adamo, Cristiano; Yost, Laura K. "R. Smg. Cappellini". The Italian Royal Navy. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  4. ↑ Shrubb, R.; Sainsbury, A. (1979). The Royal Navy day by day. Centaur Press. p.  174. ISBN   0-900000-91-0.
  5. ↑ "HMS Khartoum (F45)". Uboat.net. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 "Nombre de la clase: General Mola" (in Spanish). Revista Naval. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  7. ↑ Miller, David (2002). Illustrated Directory of Submarines. Zenith. p. 180. ISBN   9780760313459.
  8. ↑ "Serie "General Mola"" (in Spanish). Pedro Fco. Curto Salvadó. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  9. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (1994). The Spanish Civil War. Simon & Schuster. p. 795. ISBN   0-671-75876-4.
  10. ↑ Western (16 July 2009). "Alernavios: General Sanjurjo". ALERNAVIOS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-06-08.
  11. ↑ "Submarinos". Fuerza Naval (in Spanish) (84): 23. August 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-02-10. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  12. ↑ González Etchegaray, Rafael (1977). La Marina Mercante y el tráfico marítimo en la Guerra Civil (in Spanish). San Martín. p. Appendix 2. ISBN   84-7140-150-9.

Further reading

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