Italian submarine Serpente


Serpente was one of seven s built for the Regia Marina during the early 1930s.

Design and description

The Argonauta class was derived from the earlier s. They displaced surfaced and submerged. The submarines were long, had a beam of and a draft of. They had an operational diving depth of. Their crew numbered 44 officers and enlisted men.
For surface running, the boats were powered by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the Settembrini class had a range of at ; submerged, they had a range of at.
The boats were armed with six torpedo tubes, four in the bow and two in the stern for which they carried a total of 12 torpedoes. They were also armed with a single [Cannon 102/35 Model 1914|] deck gun forward of the conning tower for combat on the surface. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of two single [Breda Model 1931 Machine Gun|] machine guns.

Construction and career

Serpente was laid down by Cantieri navali Tosi di Taranto at their Taranto shipyard in 1930, launched on 28 February 1932 and completed the following year.