Name Ettore Fieramosca Builder Tosi (Taranto, Italy) Commissioned 1930 Construction started 1926 Length 82 m Beam 8.3 m | Namesake Ettore Fieramosca Laid down 1926 Decommissioned 1941 Launched 15 April 1929 Draft 5.11 m | |
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Ettore Fieramosca was an Italian submarine which served with the Regia Marina in World War II. She was named after Ettore Fieramosca an Italian condottiero of the 16th Century.
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Design
Ettore Fieramosca was designed by the firm Bernardis and was intended to be a cruiser submarine which carried a seaplane in a waterproof hangar and a 203 mm (8 in) gun; such a design was inspired by the similar (although bigger) Surcouf, then under construction in France. Several prototype seaplanes were designed but not deployed and the hangar was removed in 1931. The deck gun was initially a 120 mm (5 in) 27-calibre OTO model of 1924, but this was later replaced by a 120 mm 45-calibre OTO model of 1931.
However, as it entered service, it proved to be rather overdimensioned for its armament, slower than intended (the intended speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) while surfaced was never achieved) and with poor maneuverability, both surfaced and underwater; its huge cost and the rather poor endurance meant that plans to build more boats to the same designs were shelved.
Career
Ettore Fieramosca was built by Cantieri navali Tosi di Taranto. She was laid down in 1926, launched on 15 April 1929 and completed in 1930. Plagued with incidents and mechanical trouble for all its career, she was deployed on a few operational patrols in 1940 but without any success.
She suffered a battery explosion late in 1940 and was decommissioned in April 1941; eventually she was stricken and scrapped.