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BoggleArchimede class submarine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
General Sanjurjo in 1938 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Archimede |
| Builders: | Franco Tosi |
| Operators: | Regia Marina, Spanish Navy, Royal Navy |
| Built: | 1930-1934 |
| In service: | 1933-58 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Retired: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Submarine |
| Displacement: | 970 tons (surface) 1239 tons (submerged) |
| Length: | 70.5 m |
| Beam: | 6.87 m |
| Draught: | 4.12 m |
| Propulsion: | (surfaced/submerged) diesel / electric , 2 shafts 3,000 hp / 1,100 hp |
| Speed: | 17 / 8 knots (surfaced/submerged) |
| Range: | 10,500nm at 8 knots |
| Complement: | 55 |
| Armament: | 2 x 100mm guns 2 x 13.2mm machine guns 8 x 21" torpedo tubes (4 bow, 4 stern) |
The Archimede class were a group of submarines built for the Italian Navy in the early 1930s. The boats fought in the Spanish Civil War (under nationalist flag) and in World War II. Under Spanish colors, these boats were known as the General Mola class, and remained in service until 1959.
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 guns was conceived to deal with armed merchanment in surface combat.[1] That was the case of the Marcello class Capellini, which between 5 and 14 January 1941 sank the British steamers Shakespeare and Eumaeus off Cabo Verde after a protracted gunfire action.[2] Another example occurred when the Brin class Torricelli faced three British destroyers and a sloop while moving on surface at the Red Sea. Before being sunk, the submarine was capable of hitting the sloop and damaged the destroyer HMS Khartoum, which subsequently exploded near Perim after a fire erupted as a result of the engagement.[1][3] They also mounted two 13.2 mm antiaircraft machine guns.[4] The number of torpedoes was increased from 12 on the Settembrini class to 16.[5]
Ships
All ships were built by the shipyard of Franco Tosi at Taranto, between 1930 and 1934.
Torricelli and Archimede took part of the Spanish Civil war under Italian flag since 1936, carrying out undercover operations. Eventually both submarines were secretly delivered to the Spanish rebel navy on April 1937.[6]
| Ship | namesake | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archimede | Archimedes | 10 December 1933 | During the second half of 1936 she operated in Spanish waters covertly. 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.[7] Stricken in 1959[4] |
| Galileo Ferraris | Galileo Ferraris | 11 August 1934 | Sunk 25 October 1941 near Gibraltar by the combined action of a RAF PBY-5A Catalina flying boat and the destroyer HMS Lamerton |
| Galileo Galilei | Galileo Galilei | 19 March 1934 | On 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 |
| Torricelli | Evangelista Torricelli | 27 March 1934 | She torpedoed the Republican cruiser Miguel de Cervantes in 1936, still under Italian flag. Transferred to the Spanish nationalist navy in April 1937, renamed General Sanjurjo. She sank the transport Ciudad de Barcelona on 30 May 1937 and the British steamer Endymion on 21 January 1938.[8] Stricken in 1959[4] |
References
- ^ a b Bishop, Chris: 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 Company, Inc., 2002, page 442. ISBN 1586637622
- ^ R. Smg. Cappellini
- ^ Shrubb, R. & Sainsbury, A.: The Royal Navy day by day. Centaur Press, 1979, page 174. ISBN 0900000910
- ^ Miller, David: Illustrated Directory of Submarines. Zenith Imprint, 2002, page 180. ISBN 0760313458
- ^ Serie "General Mola" (Spanish)
- ^ Fuerza naval magazine, issue 84, August 2009, page 23 (Spanish)
- ^ Thomas, Hugh: The Spanish Civil War. Simon & Schuster, 1994, page 795. ISBN 0671758764
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946
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