Italian R-class submarine

Romolo-class submarine (Romolo)
Class overview
Name	Romolo
Builders	Tosi, CRDA
Operators	Regia Marina
Built	1942–1943
In service	1943
Planned	12
Completed	2
Cancelled	10
Lost	2
General characteristics
Type	Transport submarines
Displacement	2,155 t (2,121 long tons) (surfaced) 2,560 t (2,520 long tons) (submerged)
Length	86.5 m (283 ft 10 in)
Beam	7.86 m (25 ft 9 in)
Draft	5.34 m (17 ft 6 in)
Installed power	2,600 bhp (1,900 kW) (diesels) 900 hp (670 kW) (electric motors)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric 2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) (surfaced) 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) (submerged)
Range	12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) (surfaced) 100 nmi (190 km; 120 mi) at 3.5 knots (6.5 km/h; 4.0 mph) (submerged)
Test depth	80 m (260 ft)
Capacity	600 t (591 long tons) of cargo
Complement	63
Armament	2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (some boats) 3 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns

The R-class or Romolo-class submarine was a group of submarines built for the Royal Italian Navy (Regia Marina Italiana) during World War II. They were designed as blockade running transport submarines for transporting high-value cargo from Europe to Japan and vice versa. Axis-occupied Europe lacked strategic materials such as tungsten, tin and some commodities such as rubber.