Fratelli Bandiera was the lead ship of her class of four submarines built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) during the late 1920s.

The Bandiera class was an improved and enlarged version of the preceding Pisani-class submarines.

[1] For surface running, the boats were powered by two 1,500-brake-horsepower (1,119 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft.

They were also armed with a single 102-millimeter (4 in) deck gun forward of the conning tower for combat on the surface.

[1][2] Fratelli Bandiera was laid down by Cantiere Navale Triestino at their Trieste shipyard in 1928, launched on 7 August 1929 and completed later that year.