Argonauta-class submarine

The Argonauta class was the first sub-class of the Italian 600 Series of coastal submarines, built for the Regia Marina between 1929 and 1933. Seven boats were completed in three yards: Argonauta, Fisalia and Medusa at the Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico yard at Monfalcone, Jalea and Jantina at Odero Terni Orlando in Muggiano, and Salpa and Serpente at Tosi in Taranto. The class was derived from the larger Squalo design, displaced about 650 long tons on the surface and was 61.5 metres long. Two diesel engines of 750 horsepower each gave a surface speed of 14 knots, and the armament was six 533 mm torpedo tubes and a 102 mm deck gun. Some boats supported the Spanish Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War, and only one of the seven survived the Second World War.