The Brin-class submarine was a group of five long-range submarines built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina) during the 1930s.
The Brin-class submarines were improved versions of the preceding . Two boats were replacements for submarines of that class that were secretly transferred to the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. They displaced 1000t surfaced and 1254t submerged. The submarines were 72.47m (237.76feet) long, had a beam of 6.68m (21.92feet) and a draft of 4.54m (14.9feet). The class was partially double hulled.[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 550hp electric motor. They could reach 17.3kn on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the Brin class had a range of 9000nmi at, submerged, they had a range of 90nmi at .[2]
The boats were armed with eight internal 53.3cm (21inches) torpedo tubes, four each in the bow and stern. They carried a total of 14 torpedoes. They were also armed with one 100abbr=onNaNabbr=on 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. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of one or two pairs of 13.2mm machine guns.[1]
| Ship | Namesake | Launched | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benedetto Brin | 3 April 1938 | Surrendered to the Allies in 1943; discarded in February 1948. | ||
| Luigi Galvani | 22 May 1938 | Sunk by British sloop near Persian Gulf on 26 June 1940. | ||
| Alberto Guglielmotti | 11 September 1938 | Sank Greek tanker Atlas in the Red Sea on 6 September 1940. Torpedoed by on 17 March 1942. | ||
| Archimedes | 5 March 1939 | Escaped from East Africa in 1941 to Bordeaux. Sunk by US Navy Catalina flying boats off Brazil on 15 April 1943. | ||
| Evangelista Torricelli | 26 March 1939 | Scuttled in the Red Sea on 23 June 1940 after an engagement with the British destroyers,,, and sloop . The submarine was commanded by Salvatore Pelosi. |