Perla-class Submarine
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The ''Perla''-class submarines were the third sub-class of the 600 Series of
coastal submarine A coastal submarine or littoral submarine is a small, maneuverable submarine with a shallow draft (hull), draft well suited to navigating coastal channels and harbors. Although size is not precisely defined, coastal submarines are larger than mi ...
s built for the
Royal Italian Navy The , ) (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 (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origins ...
(''Regia Marina'') during the 1930s and named after gemstones. Of the ten boats built of this class, only three survived World War II.


Design and description

The ''Perla''-class submarines were essentially repeats of the preceding . The modifications that were made compared to the boats of the previous series were mostly of upgrade nature. Among them were enlargement of the false tower at the top, more modern engines, installation of a radiogoniometer that could be controlled from inside the ship. Improvements and the installation of new air conditioning equipment meant a slight increase in displacement, and increase in the fuel stowage also increased the autonomy of these boats compared to the previous series. Their designed full load
displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...
was surfaced and submerged, but varied somewhat depending on the boat and the builder. The submarines were long, had a beam of and a
draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...
of to .Bagnasco, p. 153 For surface running, the boats were powered by two
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...
s, each driving one
propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...
with overall power of . When submerged each propeller was driven by a
electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...
. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the ''Perla'' class had a range of at , submerged, they had a range of at .Bagnasco, p. 153 The boats were armed with six internal
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, four in the bow and two in the stern. One reload torpedo was carried for each tube, for a total of twelve. They were also armed with one
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 ...
for combat on the surface. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of one or two pairs of machine guns.Chesneau, pp. 309–10


Ships


Service

The boats, once commissioned, were assigned to complete the squadrons of "600" submarines from
La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...
(12th and 13th Squadrons) and
Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
(34th and 35th Squadrons) and began their training and exercises in metropolitan waters, and underwent endurance training predominantly in the
Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; , ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. This island group generally define ...
and, to a lesser extent, along the coast of
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. These endurance exercises took place in 1936 and 1937, soon after the initial training was finished. and were "lent" to the Nationalist side during the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, under the names of ''Gonzales Lopez'' and ''Aguilar Tablada'' respectively, in the framework of
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
's aid to Franco's regime. They retained their Italian crews but had a Spanish liaison officer on board. They were returned to the Italian Navy at the end of the conflict. In 1938 and were sent to the Red Sea base of
Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...
and returned the following year replaced by , and who in turn returned to Italy before the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Between 1938 and 1940 and were for long periods of time deployed outside of Italy, mainly in
Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclopà ...
. At the outbreak of hostilities, four boats were located at
La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...
, three in
Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...
, two in Augusta and one, , in
Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...
. After a disastrous start to the
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
when
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
lost ten submarines in the first twenty days, and the
Regia Marina The , ) (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 (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origin ...
and
Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...
did not fare much better, Italian command decided to speed up implementation of experimental SLC technology. In July 1940 was modified to carry 4 "Maiale" manned torpedoes in watertight containers on the deck of the submarines. was sunk while conducting tests, before she could be employed against British naval units. underwent conversion to SLC in March 1942 with three SLC units being fitted onto her deck. With a weight of 2.8 tons, these SLC cylinders were able to withstand depths up to 90 meters, about three times more than those installed on . In December 1942, managed to penetrate
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harbor, and sank or seriously damaged several merchant ships with a total GRT over 20,000. In common with other Italian submarines the survivors were fitted with smaller conning towers in 1942–43. Overall, the ''Perla'' class submarines proved to be quite successful. They showed good maneuverability, their hull was well designed and strongly built to withstand depth pressure and explosions that exceeded their test values.


See also

*
Italian submarines of World War II The Italian submarine fleet of World War II was the second largest in the world at the time, with 116 submarines. It saw action during the Second World War, serving mainly in the Mediterranean. During the conflict 88 submarines, 75% of its total st ...


Notes


References

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External links


Sommergibili
Marina Militare website {{SpanishCivilWarShips Italian 600 Series submarines Perla Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War (National faction)