Luciano Manara was one of four Bandiera-class submarines built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) during the late 1920s.

Completed in 1929, 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] Luciano Manara was laid down by Cantiere Navale Triestino at their Trieste shipyard in 1928, launched on 5 October 1929 and completed later that year.