The ''Balilla'' class were the first

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s to be built for the

Italian navy The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active per ...

following the end of

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. They were large ocean-going

cruiser submarine A cruiser submarine was a very large submarine designed to remain at sea for extended periods in areas distant from base facilities. Their role was analogous to surface cruisers; 'cruising' distant waters, commerce raiding, and otherwise operatin ...

s designed to operate in the

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based in Italy's

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n colonies. The design was double-hulled and based on the German Type UE II submarine

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

s, one of which, was supplied to the Italians as a war reparation. A auxiliary diesel engine was installed as an extra generator. During the war, the boats were stationed in the

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in 1940 but proved too large to be effective patrol submarines. Their only success was the sinking of the British submarine by on 15 October 1940. After 1941 they were used as transport submarines to supply Italian forces in

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. The surviving boats were scrapped after the war. One submarine, , was built for the

Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations. The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...

to a modified design.

Design

The design of the ''Ballila'' class consisted of a strong double-hull which gave the ships a maximum diving depth of , though reached in trials. The boats displaced 1,427 tons surfaced and 1874 tons submerged. They were long with a beam of and a draught of . The boats were considered to have poor stability.Chesneau, p. 304 The submarines were powered by two

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diesels for surface cruising and two Savigliano electric motors for use while submerged driving two shafts. These created and respectively. The second diesel engine was for auxiliary purposes and for recharging the batteries, novel at the time of the boats construction. This gave the ships a speed of surfaced and submerged. However, the initial design called for the ability to reach speeds of surfaced and submerged; the subs never reached these marks. The ''Ballila''-class boats had a range of at . The ''Ballila'' class was armed with six

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s with four located in the bow and two in the stern. The submarines carried a load of 16 torpedoes, with two reloads for each bow tube and one reload for each stern tube. The class was also armed with one 1924 model /27

calibre In guns, particularly firearms, but not artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or wher ...

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose w ...

that was placed in a shielded mounting in the forward section of the

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...

. In 1934, the class underwent a refit that upgraded the

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to a /45 calibre gun. The ships also received two machine guns placed two single mounts.Campbell, pp. 335–338

''Humaytá'' sub-class

''Humaytá'' was ordered by the Brazilian navy as a deep-diving submarine. Modifications to the standard ''Ballila'' design include the placement of the diesel and electric motors further forward, the elimination of the bow planes and a different distribution of the ballast tanks throughout the submarine. The submarine was longer at with a shallower draught, . The vessel displaced 1,390 tons surfaced and 1,884 tons submerged.Chesneau, p. 417 The submarine was powered by two Ansaldo diesels with one electric motor creating and respectively. This gave the ship a speed of surfaced and submerged. ''Humaytá'' differed in armament too. The submarine was equipped with the six torpedo tubes with four located in the bow and two in the stern. However, the vessel had only a deck gun and carried 16 mines.

Ships

All ships were built by OTO in Muggiano. ''Humaytá'' was a modified version of this design built for the Brazilian Navy in 1927. The ship was retired in 1950.

Notes

Bibliography

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External links