F13 was an F-class submarine in commission in the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) from 1917 to 1935. She took part in seeing service in the Adriatic Campaign.
Design
Construction and commissioning F13 was laid down by Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando (Orlando Brothers Shipyard) in Livorno (Leghorn), Italy, on 1915. She was launched on 1917 and commissioned on 1917 under the command of Tenente di vascello (Ship-of-the-Line Lieutenant) Manlio Tarantini, a future ammiraglio (admiral).
Service history In September 1917, F13 was assigned to the Ancona Maritime Command, based operationally at Porto Corsini and Venice. Taking part in the Adriatic Campaign of , she conducted 11 offensive war patrols in enemy waters, both along Austro-Hungarian merchant shipping routes and in the approaches to the ports of Pola and Trieste. Her most noteworthy action occurred on 1917, when she and her sister ship intercepted an Austro-Hungarian Navy formation composed of the coastal defense ships and , escorted by torpedo boats, minesweepers, and seaplanes, which was bombarding Italian coastal defenses at Cortellazzo on the Piave River. The two submarines and two MAS boats intervened in an attempt to force the Austro-Hungarian ships to withdraw. Although under heavy fire by several Austro-Hungarian torpedo boats, F13 was undamaged, and her entire crew received a commendation for their actions duiring the engagement.
World War I ended in November 1918, and after the war F13 operated mainly in the northern Adriatic Sea as a Mechanics Training School unit in Venice and Pola. In October 1923, she was assigned to a new base at Brindisi, and while moving to Brindisi that month made port calls at Pola, Zara (now Zadar), and Lastovo (known to the Italians as Lagosta). In 1924 she took part in torpedo-firing drills, and she participated in major naval maneuvers held in August 1924.
In February 1926, F13 was reassigned to Pola, but she returned to Brindisi in August 1926. She participated in training cruises in 1927, one of them in the Adriatic Sea alongside other units of the Italian fleet.
F13 later was placed in reserve with a reduced crew. She was decommissioned and stricken from the navy list on 1935.
References Citations
Bibliography