Galileo Galilei was one of four Archimede-class submarines built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) during the early 1930s. She was named after Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer and engineer.
Contents
Design and description
The ships were designed by the firm Cavallini and were an enlarged version of the preceding Settembrini-class submarine. Among the changes were the introduction of a partially double hulled design, rearrangement of the ballast tanks, increases in fuel capacity and range, and a strengthening of the armament. The number of torpedoes was increased from 12 on the Settembrini class to 16.
They displaced 980 metric tons (960 long tons) surfaced and 1,260 metric tons (1,240 long tons) submerged. The submarines were 70.51 meters (231 ft 4 in) long, had a beam of 6.87 meters (22 ft 6 in) and a draft of 4.12 meters (13 ft 6 in).
For surface running, the boats were powered by two 1,500-brake-horsepower (1,119 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 700-horsepower (522 kW) electric motor. They could reach 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) on the surface and 7.7 knots (14.3 km/h; 8.9 mph) underwater. On the surface, the Archimede class had a range of 10,300 nautical miles (19,100 km; 11,900 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph), submerged, they had a range of 105 nmi (194 km; 121 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph).
The boats were armed with eight internal 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, four in the bow and four in the stern. They were also armed with two 100 mm (4 in) deck gun for combat on the surface. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of two single 13.2 mm (0.52 in) machine guns.
Construction and career
In Regia Marina
Galileo Galilei was built at Tosi shipyard at Taranto. She was launched on 19 March 1934 and commissioned on 16 October that year. After delivery, Galileo Galilei together with other submarines of Archimede-class was assigned to 12th Squadron of the III Flotilla, later to become 41st and then 44th Submarine Squadron of the VII Submarine Group, based at Taranto. After a period of intensive training and short cruises, the Squadron was sent for training to Tobruk.
In 1937, along with many other submarines of the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina), Galileo Galilei secretly participated in the Spanish Civil War, conducting several missions without achieving any success. Following the Iride-HMS Havock incident, in September 1937 the Nyon Conference was called by France and Great Britain to address the "underwater piracy" conducted against merchant traffic in the Mediterranean. On 14 September, an agreement was signed establishing British and French patrol zones around Spain (with a total of 60 destroyers and airforce employed) to counteract aggressive behavior by submarines. Italy was not directly accused, but had to comply with the agreement and suspend the underwater operations.
Under pressure from Franco's regime, Italy decided to transfer 4 more submarines (in addition to Archimede and Evangelista Torricelli already being operated by the Falangists) to the Spanish Legion (Legión Española or Tercio de Extranjeros). Galileo Galilei was one of the four boats chosen for the transfer. On 26 September 1937 Galileo Galilei arrived at Soller on Mallorca. She was placed under the direct command of Spanish admiral Francisco Moreno, was renamed General Mola II and assigned pennant number L1. However, Galileo Galilei retained her commander (captain Mario Ricci), senior officers and Italian crew, but they had to wear Spanish uniforms and insignia.
The other three Italian submarines transferred to Tercio were Onice (Aguilar Tablada), Iride (Gonzalez Lopez) and Galileo Ferraris (General Sanjurjo II). All four were based at Soller. Galileo Galilei conducted several patrols without any success. In February 1938 she returned home, as Italy withdrew their submarines from Spanish service due to international pressure. Upon her return, Galileo Galilei was temporarily assigned to the 44th Squadron of the VII Submarine Group based at Taranto, together with Galileo Ferraris, and the more modern Archimede, Brin, Guglielmotti, Torricelli and Galvani. During 1939 Galileo Galilei and Galileo Ferraris were moved to a different location and the 44th Squadron was renamed to 41st Squadron.
In Royal Navy
After her capture, Galileo Galilei was berthed at Port Said and served as a generating station to charge the batteries of British submarines. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy in June 1942 as HMS X2 (later changed to P 711), and was operated as a training boat in the East. She was scrapped on 1 January 1946.