20 OCTOBER 1916: The F 1 submarine enters service

(To Marina Militare)
20/10/15

Friday - The F 1 class “F” submarine out of 21 units enters service in Spezia under the command of the lieutenant captain Guido Calieri di Sala. Built in the FIAT shipyard-San Giorgio del Muggiano (Spezia) with setting on the port on May 27, 1915 and launched on April 2, it was of the “Laurenti” type with a partial double hull.

The boats of the class were an improved "Medusa" type of which they kept almost unchanged dimensions and forms of hulls, differing from the prototype for the refinements and the secluded improvements: mainly, the arrangement of an 76 / 30 mm gun in deck aft of the turret, an increase in the speed of immersion, double periscope, gyroscopic compass and apparatus for underwater signaling.

Submarines of this class were excellent coastal boats for their times; very maneuvering both on the surface and in diving, and provided with sufficient autonomy for use in restricted seas. The boat after a short training period in the Tyrrhenian Sea will be located in Ancona.