Fratelli Bandiera was the lead ship of her class of four submarines built for the Italian: [[Regia Marina]] (Royal Italian Navy) during the late 1920s.
The Bandiera class was an improved and enlarged version of the preceding s. They displaced 925LT surfaced and 1080LT submerged. The submarines were 69.8m (229feet) long, had a beam of 7.3m (24feet) and a draft of 5.26m (17.26feet). They had an operational diving depth of 90m (300feet). Their crew numbered 53 officers and enlisted men.[1]
For surface running, the boats were powered by two 15000NaN0 diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 650hp electric motor. They could reach 15kn on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the Bandiera class had a range of 4750nmi at ; submerged, they had a range of 60nmi at .[2]
The boats were armed with eight 53.3cm (21inches) torpedo tubes, four each in the bow and stern for which they carried a total of 12 torpedoes. They were also armed with a single 102mm deck gun forward of the conning tower for combat on the surface. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of two 13.2adj=onNaNadj=on machine guns.[1] [2]
Fratelli Bandiera was laid down by Cantiere Navale Triestino at their Trieste shipyard in 1928, launched on 7 August 1929 and completed later that year.[3]
. 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.