Foca-class submarine

Foca-class submarine
Foca in 1937
Class overview
Name: Foca
Operators:  Regia Marina
Built: 1936-1938
In service: 1936-1947
Planned: Three
Completed: Three
Lost: One
Retired: Two
General characteristics
Type:Submarine
Displacement:1,354 tons (surface)
1,685 tons (submerged)
Length:82.8 m (272 ft)
Beam:7.2 m (24 ft)
Draught:5.3 m (17 ft)
Propulsion:Twin screw diesel / electric motors
Speed:15.2 / 7.4 knots (surfaced/submerged)
Range:11,118 km (6,003 nmi; 6,908 mi) (6,000 nm) at 10 knots
Armament:1 × 100mm guns
6 × 21" torpedo tubes

The Foca-class were a group of three submarines[1] built for the Italian Navy between 1936 and 1938; they were intended primarily for mine-laying operations.[2][3] The lead boat, Foca was lost in October 1940 while laying mines in Haifa harbor. Atropo and Zoea, the second and third vessels of the class, were used after Italy's 1943 surrender by the Allies for supply runs to British garrisons in Samos and Leros in the Aegean. Both were scrapped in 1947[4][5]

Ships

Ship Namesake Launched Fate
Foca (Italian for "seal") 26 June 1937 Lost in 1940 off Haifa, Palestine.[6]
Atropo (The Moira Atropos) 20 November 1938 Used to supply British forces in the Dodecanese after the 1943 armistice, she survived the war, but was scrapped in 1947
Zoea (A crustacean in his larval state) 3 February 1936 Used to supply British forces in the Dodecanese after the 1943 armistice, she survived the war, but was scrapped in 1947

See also

Sources

References

  1. ↑ "Foca class entry at Trento in Cina database". Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  2. ↑ Jackson, p.98
  3. ↑ "Italian Submarines". Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  4. ↑ Jackson, p.25
  5. ↑ Jackson, p. 288
  6. ↑ Prior to 1947, Haifa was still part of the state of Palestine