Nautilus was disarmed at Bizerte, Tunisia and captured there on 8 December 1942 by Italian forces.

The submarines electrical propulsion allowed it to attain speeds of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) while submerged.

[1] The Saphir-class submarines were constructed to be able to launch torpedoes and lay mines without surfacing.

The moored contact mines they used contained 220 kg (490 lb) of TNT and operated at up to 200 metres (660 ft) of depth.

They were attached to the submarine's exterior under a hydrodynamic protection and were jettisoned with compressed air.