Serpente was one of seven Argonauta-class submarines built for the Regia Marina (Royal Italian Navy) during the early 1930s.

The Argonauta class was derived from the earlier Squalo-class submarines.

[2] For surface running, the boats were powered by two 750-brake-horsepower (559 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft.

[1] On the surface, the Settembrini class had a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph);[2] submerged, they had a range of 110 nmi (200 km; 130 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph).

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