Italian submarine F1

	F1 departing Taranto, Italy.
History
Italy
Name	F1
Builder	FIAT-San Giorgio, La Spezia, Italy
Laid down	27 May 1915
Launched	2 April 1916
Commissioned	20 October 1916
Decommissioned	2 June 1930
Stricken	2 June 1930
Identification	Pennant number F1
Motto	Strenue descendes, victor ascendens (I descend boldly, I ascend victoriously)
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Class & type	F-class submarine
Displacement	262 long tons (266 t) (surfaced); 319 long tons (324 t) (submerged);
Length	45.6 m (149 ft 7 in) (overall); 45.1 m (148 ft 0 in) (between perpendiculars);
Beam	4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
Draught	3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
Propulsion	2 × 670 bhp (500 kW) Fiat diesel engines; 2 × 500 hp (373 kW) Savigliano electric motors; 2 x shafts; 15 tons diesel fuel;
Speed	12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) (surfaced); 8.2 knots (15.2 km/h; 9.4 mph) (submerged);
Range	1,600 nmi (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) (surfaced); 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) (submerged);
Test depth	45 metres (148 feet)
Complement	26 (2 officers, 24 men)
Armament	2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (2 bow); 4 x torpedoes; 1 × 76 mm (3 in) deck gun;
Notes	SOURCE:

F1 was the lead ship of the F-class submarines. She was in commission in the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) from 1916 to 1930. She took part in World War I, seeing service in the Adriatic Campaign.

Design

Construction and commissioning

F1 was laid down by FIAT-San Giorgio at La Spezia, Italy, on 27 May 1915. She was launched on 2 April 1916 and commissioned on 20 October 1916.

Service history

F1 was assigned to the Ancona Submarine Flotilla for operations in the Adriatic Sea during the Adriatic Campaign of World War I. Arriving in the Adriatic in December 1916, she became her squadron's flagship. She conducted 30 war patrols — a mix of offensive patrols along Austria-Hungary′s maritime trade routes, defensive patrols along Italy's coast, and patrols carried out as part of the mobile defense of Venice — but with no significant results.

World War I ended in November 1918, and after the war F1 operated as part of the Venice Flotilla until May 1921. She then transferred to Taranto and became part of the 2nd Submarine Squadron there. She took part in the naval maneuvers of 1925 and took second prize in the attack and torpedo-firing competitions of 1926.

F1 was decommissioned and stricken from the navy list on 2 June 1930. She subsequently was scrapped.

References

Citations

1 2 3 4 5 "Sommergibili Classe F" [F-class Submarines] (in Italian). Grupsom - Sommergibili Mediterranei. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
1 2 3 Conway's 1906–1921 1985, p. 277.
1 2 Conway's 1922–1946 1980, p. 288.
1 2 sonar (28 February 2008). "Classe F (1915)" [F Class (1915)]. Betasom - XI Gruppo Sommergibili Atlantici (in Italian). Retrieved 27 August 2026.
1 2 3 "F 1". marina.difesa.it (in Italian). Marina Militare. Retrieved 10 September 2026.

Bibliography

Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
Favre, Franco (2008). La Marina nella Grande Guerra. Le operazioni aeree, navali, subacquee e terrestri in Adriatico [The Navy in the Great War: Aerial, Naval, Underwater, and Land Operations in the Adriatic] (in Italian). Udine: Gaspari Editore.
Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0851772455.
Giorgerini, Giorgio (2002). Uomini sul fondo. Storia del sommergibilismo italiano dalle origini a oggi [Men at the Bottom: History of Italian Submarining from its Origins to Today] (in Italian). Milano: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. ISBN 978-8-80450-537-2.
Maffi, Mario (1919). La Vittoria in Adriatico [The Victory in the Adriatic] (in Italian). Milano: Alfieri e Lacroix.

[xmasgrupsom.com-1] 1 2 3 4 5 "Sommergibili Classe F" [F-class Submarines] (in Italian). Grupsom - Sommergibili Mediterranei. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2026.

[FOOTNOTE''Conway's_1906–1921''1985277-2] 1 2 3 Conway's 1906–1921 1985, p. 277.

[FOOTNOTE''Conway's_1922–1946''1980288-3] 1 2 Conway's 1922–1946 1980, p. 288.

[betasomfclass-4] 1 2 sonar (28 February 2008). "Classe F (1915)" [F Class (1915)]. Betasom - XI Gruppo Sommergibili Atlantici (in Italian). Retrieved 27 August 2026.

[marinadifesaf1-5] 1 2 3 "F 1". marina.difesa.it (in Italian). Marina Militare. Retrieved 10 September 2026.