The Foca class were a group of three minelaying submarines built for the Italian: [[Regia Marina]] (Royal Italian Navy) during the 1930s. All three sister ships played minor roles during the Second World War. One was lost to unknown causes while trying to lay a minefield off British Palestine in 1940, but the other two survived the war to be discarded in 1947.
The Foca-class submarines were improved versions of the preceding Pietro Micca. They displaced 1305LT surfaced and 1625LT submerged. The submarines were 82.85m (271.82feet) long, had a beam of 7.17m (23.52feet) and a draft of 5.2m (17.1feet). They had an operational diving depth of 90m (300feet). Their crew numbered 60 officers and men.[1]
For surface running, the boats were powered by two 14400NaN0 diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 625hp electric motor. They could reach 15.2kn on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the Foca class had a range of 7800nmi at, submerged, they had a range of 120nmi at .[2]
The boats were armed with six internal 53.3cm (21inches) torpedo tubes, four in the bow and two in the stern, for which they carried eight torpedoes. They were also armed with one 100mm deck gun for combat on the surface. The gun was initially mounted in the rear of the conning tower, but this was re-sited on the forward deck later in the war in the surviving boats and the large conning tower was re-built to a smaller design. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of two pairs of 13.2adj=onNaNadj=on machine guns.[1] The Focas carried a total of 36 mines. Twenty mines were stored in a central chamber, while the remaining 16 mines were kept in two aft chutes through which the mines were ejected.[2]
| Ship | Builder[3] | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Fate[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cantieri navali Tosi di Taranto, Taranto | 15 January 1936 | 26 June 1937 | 6 November 1937 | Lost 13 October 1940 off Haifa, British Palestine | |
| 10 July 1937 | 20 November 1938 | 14 February 1939 | Discarded, 23 March 1947 | ||
| 3 February 1936 | 5 December 1937 | 12 February 1938 |
The lead boat, Foca, was lost to unknown causes on 13 October 1940 while laying mines off Haifa.[4] Atropo and Zoea, the second and third vessels of the class, were used after Italy's 1943 surrender by the Allies for anti-submarine training.[5] Both were scrapped in 1947.[1]
. Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 2005. Third Revised. 1-59114-119-2. Jürgen Rohwer.