Italian submarine F6

History
Italy
Name	F6
Builder	Orlando, Livorno, Italy
Laid down	16 June 1915
Launched	4 March 1917
Commissioned	1 May 1917
Decommissioned	1 August 1935
Identification	Pennant number F6
Motto	Feros submergeam et empios ("I will submerge the cruel and the wicked")
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:

F6 was an F-class submarine in commission in the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) from 1917 to 1935. She took part in World War I, seeing service in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Adriatic Campaign.

Design

Construction and commissioning

F6 was laid down by Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando (Orlando Brothers Shipyard) in Livorno (Leghorn), Italy, on 16 June 1915. She was launched on 4 March 1917 and commissioned on 1 May 1917.

Service history

After completing her workups, F6 was deemed operationally ready on 20 June 1917. She was assigned to the La Spezia Maritime Command for operations in the Mediterranean Sea during the Mediterranean U-boat campaign of World War I.

In September 1917, F6 was assigned to the Venice Submarine Command. Based at Ancona, she subsequently took part in the Adriatic Campaign. Before World War I ended in November 1918, she conducted 30 war patrols in the northern Adriatic Sea, but without any significant results.

After the end of World War I, F6 continued to operate in the northern Adriatic Sea until May 1921. In October 1921 she was transferred to Taranto. She subsequently took part in naval maneuvers, attack exercises, and torpedo-firing drills, including combined maneuvers and exercises with surface warships.

F6 was decommissioned on 1 August 1935. She subquently was scrapped.

References

Citations

1 2 3 4 5 6 "Regi Sommmergibili F2-F3-F4-F5-F6" [Royal Submarines F2–F6]. Grupsom - Sommergibili Mediterranei (in Italian). Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 9 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 4 "F 6". marina.difesa.it (in Italian). Marina Militare. Retrieved 9 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 6 "Regi Sommmergibili F2-F3-F4-F5-F6" [Royal Submarines F2–F6]. Grupsom - Sommergibili Mediterranei (in Italian). Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 9 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.

[marinadifesaf6-5] 1 2 3 4 "F 6". marina.difesa.it (in Italian). Marina Militare. Retrieved 9 September 2026.