Italian submarine Adua was an built in the 1930s, serving in the Regia Marina during World War II. She was named after Adwa, a town in northern Ethiopia. Design and description The Adua-class submarines were essentially repeats of the preceding . They displaced surfaced and submerged. The submarines were long, had a beam of and a draft of . For surface running, the boats were powered by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the Adua class had a range of at , submerged, they had a range of at . The boats were armed with six internal torpedo tubes, four in the bow and two in the stern. They were also armed with one deck gun for combat on the surface. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of one or two pairs of machine guns. Construction and career Adua was built at the CRDA shipyard, in Monfalcone. She was laid down on 1 February 1936, launched on 13 September of the same year, and commissioned on 14 November 1936. After intense 1937 spring training in the waters of the Dodecanese, Greece and Libya, Adua was assigned to the 23rd Squadron based at Naples. In 1939 she was transferred to Cagliari and became part of the 71st Squadron (VII Submarine Group). On June 10, 1940, at the time of Italy's entrance into World War II, Adua was already at sea, south of Sardinia (between Cape Teulada and the island of La Galite) under command of Giuseppe Roselli Lorenzini. On June 13, she moved to an area between Ibiza and Mallorca and later to the Gulf of Lion fifteen miles east of Cape Creus. During night of June 17, 1940 Adua sighted a destroyer, but could not launch an attack. The following morning, she sighted a French convoy (five merchants and two escorts) on the Marseille – Toulon route. Not being able to approach because of the escort, she launched a single torpedo from 1,800 meters at a larger transport. However, there are no confirmations of any ships being damaged or sunk on this day at this time and this location. Shortly thereafter, captain Luigi Riccardi assumed command of the submarine. From October 22, 1940, to March 12, 1941, Adua served as the training vessel at the Pola Submarine School.