Balilla class
 The Domenico Millelire
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The four submarines of Balilla class were in the 1920s for the Italian Navy built.
Building history
Although Italy was placed on the same tonnage level as France in terms of tonnage in the Washington Naval Agreement of 1922 , state finances did not quite allow them to engage in an arms race for supremacy in the Mediterranean . Therefore, a focus was placed on the construction of submarines. In this context, Italy focused on two types of submarines: on smaller, so-called coastal boats for combat in the Mediterranean ("600-ton classes"), and on deep-sea boats, which were also intended for use outside the Mediterranean against hostile trade - and supply links to operate.
The first class of submarines to be built in Italy after the First World War for use at sea was the Balilla class. The plan was for a two-hulled type of boat, which was unusually large for the time, with a displacement of 1,500 tons (over water), high speed, a large driving range and good armament: the boats had four 553 mm torpedo tubes at the bow and two aft, as well as one very heavy for the time 120 mm gun. Although it was actually primarily a kind of experimental class, the boats turned out to be quite good for the time. The Balilla class was later followed directly by the two-hulled boats of the Calvi , Argo and Tritone (or Flutto ) classes . Despite various improvements, they proved to be too big and cumbersome with their tall, massive towers during World War II. The boats, which were very conspicuous over water, suffered from very long submersion times, which often had fatal effects in offensive operations against heavily secured escorts. The training level of the crews did not meet the requirements in 1940 either.
The four boats of the Balilla class were built in Muggiano near La Spezia between 1925 and 1929 . The class was named after the Genoese hero figure Giovan Battista Perasso . His nickname Balilla also referred to the fascist youth organization Mussolini . Like a small submarine built for Germany before the First World War (and drafted by Italy in 1915 and then called Balilla ), this Balilla class was named after the popular hero himself and not after the party organization.
A fifth boat, the Humayà , was built for the Brazilian Navy and remained in service there until the mid-1950s.
Mission history
In the early 1930s, the boats at sea with other ships secured long-haul flights by Italian aviation pioneers, including the Atlantic crossing of an Italo Balbos formation . During this time two boats circled the African continent. This was followed by missions in the Mediterranean during the Spanish Civil War . Since the boats were technically obsolete in 1940, they were mainly used as training, reconnaissance or transport boats.
Balilla and Millelire served as fuel depots from 1941 and were removed from the fleet list in 1946. Sciesa was badly damaged in an air raid in the roadstead of Tobruk shortly after it was converted into a transport boat at the end of 1942 and sunk by the crew shortly afterwards. Named after a Bersagliere that fell in World War I, the Enrico Toti was the only Italian submarine from World War II to sank a British submarine. In the in October 1940 before Brindisi discharged surface combatant against the Triad had Enrico Toti a jammed . On this occasion, the angry gun crew threw a boot in the direction of the British boat, in imitation of the amputee Enrico Toti, who in 1916 threw his crutch at enemy positions while he was dying. Because the boat gained some fame after this battle, the first submarine class built in Italy after the war was called the Toti class .
Boats of the class
| boat | Namesake | Shipyard | Keel laying | Launch | Commissioning | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balilla | Giovan Battista Perasso | OTO Muggiano (SP) | January 12, 1925 | 1926 | 1928 | from 1941 as GR247 fuel depot |
| Domenico Millelire | Domenico Millelire | OTO Muggiano | January 19, 1925 | 1926 | October 21, 1928 | Training boat, from 1941 fuel depot |
| Enrico Toti | Enrico Toti | OTO Muggiano | January 26, 1925 | September 20, 1928 | 1929 | sank the British submarine Triad on October 15, 1940 , from 1941 a training and transport boat |
| Antonio Sciesa | Amatore Sciesa | OTO Muggiano | October 20, 1925 | 1926 | April 12, 1929 | With Enrico Toti in 1933 bypassing Africa, reconnaissance and transport boat |
literature
- Robert Jackson: Submarines . Gondromverlag, Bindlach, 2001, ISBN 3-8112-1874-3
- Erminio Bagnasco: Submarines in World War II , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 5th edition 1996, ISBN 3-613-01252-9
See also
- List of Italian submarine classes
- Italian submarine units in World War II
- Fieramosca class
- Archimede class
- Glauco class
- Calvi class
- Brin class
- Marcello class
- Giuliani class
- Marconi class