Balilla (ship, 1915)

**Balilla** p1
Ship data
Ship type	Submarine
Shipyard	Fiat San Giorgio, La Spezia
Commissioning	August 8, 1915
Whereabouts	Sunk on July 14, 1916
Ship dimensions and crew
length	65 m ( Lüa )
width	6.05 m
Draft	Max. 4.17 m
displacement	surfaced: 728 t ; submerged: 875 t
crew	4 officers, 34 men
Machine system
machine	2 Fiat diesel engines ; 2 Savigliano electric motors
Machine ; performance	2,600 / 900 PS (2 kW)
propeller	2
Mission data submarine
Immersion depth, max.	30 m
Top ; speed ; submerged	9 kn (17 km / h)
Top ; speed ; surfaced	14 kn (26 km / h)
Armament
	4 torpedo tubes ∅ 45 cm; 2 guns caliber 76.2 mm;

Balilla was a submarine of the Italian Navy , which was originally intended as SM U 42 for the German Imperial Navy .

background

U 42 was ordered by the German Imperial Navy in 1913 to study the construction of Italian submarines. Before it was completed, however, Italy entered World War I on the side of the Allies . U 42 was confiscated by the Italian Navy and put into service as Balilla in 1915 . The boat served in the 4th submarine squadron based in Brindisi . The commandant of the Balilla was Corvette Captain Paolo Tolosetto Farinata.

Sinking

Balilla was sunk on July 14, 1916 northwest of Lissa by the Austrian torpedo boats 65 F and 66 F.

Surname

The boat was named after Balilla (Giovan Battista Perasso), an Italian national hero.

Footnotes

^ Franco Favre, La Marina nella Grande Guerra. Le operazioni navali, aeree, subacquee e terrestri in Adriatico, p. 168-169

Web links

History of the Balilla (Italian)

[1] Franco Favre, La Marina nella Grande Guerra. Le operazioni navali, aeree, subacquee e terrestri in Adriatico, p. 168-169