Sauro-class submarine

The Nazario Sauro class is a group of diesel-electric submarines built for the Italian Navy by Fincantieri at Monfalcone. Italy developed the design in the 1970s to counter the underwater threat of the Soviet Union, and the class entered service in 1980, replacing a mixed fleet of Toti class and older American-built boats. Four batches were built: Sauro and Cossato first, then Leonardo da Vinci and Guglielmo Marconi, then two pairs to an improved Sauro design ordered in 1983 and 1988 and delivered in 1988 to 1989 and 1994 to 1995. The boats carry six 533 millimetre torpedo tubes with twelve reloads. The first boats were retired in 2001 and 2002, and four were upgraded in 2005 with new sensors, weapons control and communications. The class was eventually succeeded by the Todaro class, the Italian version of the German Type 212 design.