The newly built submarine Pietro Venuti was delivered at Fincantieri's shipyard of Muggiano, La Spezia. It is the third of the U212A Todaro class, a series of four sister units which the Central Unit for Naval Armament - NAVARM has ordered to Fincantieri for the Italian Navy.
Pietro Venuti, as its twin unit Romeo Romei, launched last year in the shipyard of Muggiano, features innovative technological solutions and is entirely built with amagnetic material, using the most modern silencing techniques to reduce its acoustic signature, Fincantieri said.
The submarine has a surface displacement of 1,509 metric tons, an overall length of 55.9 meters, a maximum diameter of 7 meters, and can exceed 16 knots underwater. It has a 27-person crew.
The Venuti is the 101st submarine built at the Muggiano shipyard since 1907, when the Foca vessel was launched for the Italian Royal Navy. Since then, the shipyard has stood out for building naval vessels, not only for the Italian Navy, but also for others around the world, including Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Denmark.
The Venuti is part of the second pair of submarines to be built in chronological order, and it is just about one year ahead of the Romeo Romei, currently under construction at Muggiano. These vessels will replace in the Navy's fleet, the Prini and Pelosi submarines (Sauro class - third series) built in the late 1980s. The submarine construction program is the continuation of the project begun in 1994 in cooperation with the German Submarine Consortium, which has already led to the construction of six vessels for Germany and two for Italy - the Todaro and the Scirè in the past years. These submarines were delivered by Fincantieri respectively in 2006 and 2007 and are already successfully operating within the Italian Navy's fleet.
Venuti features modern silencing techniques to reduce its acoustic signature. Furthermore, it is equipped with a silent propulsion system based on fuel cell technology, producing energy through an oxygen-hydrogen reaction, independent therefore from external oxygen, ensuring a submerged range three to four times higher than the conventional battery-based systems. It also features a fully integrated electro-acoustic and weapon-control system, as well as a modern platform automation system.
Source: maritimeglobalnews.com