Italian submarine Santorre Santarosa

Santorre di Santarosa was one of four Bandiera-class submarines built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) during the late 1920s. Completed in 1929, she played a minor role in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 supporting the Spanish Nationalists.

Design and description
The Bandiera class was an improved and enlarged version of the preceding Pisani-class submarines. They displaced 925 LT surfaced and 1080 LT submerged. The submarines were 69.8 m long, had a beam of 7.3 m and a draft of 5.26 m. They had an operational diving depth of 90 m. Their crew numbered 53 officers and enlisted men.

For surface running, the boats were powered by two 1500 bhp diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 650 hp electric motor. They could reach 15 kn on the surface and 8.2 kn underwater. On the surface, the Bandiera class had a range of 4750 nmi at 8.5 kn; submerged, they had a range of 60 nmi at 4 kn.

The boats were armed with eight 53.3 cm 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 102 mm deck gun forward of the conning tower for combat on the surface. Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of two 13.2 mm machine guns.

Construction and career
Santorre Santarosa was laid down by Odero-Terni-Orlando at their Muggiano shipyard in 1928, launched on 22 October 1929 and completed later that year. During the Spanish Civil War, Santorre Santarosa was attempting to attack the tanker SS Campeador during nightfall on 11 August 1937 off Ras el Mustafa, French Tunisia, when the ITALIAN DESTROYER Saetta torpedoed and sank the tanker before the submarine could reach firing position.