Of the four boats built in this class, all but one survived the Second World War.

[1] For surface running, the boats were powered by two 1,550-brake-horsepower (1,156 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft.

On the surface, the Mameli class had a range of 4,360 nautical miles (8,070 km; 5,020 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph); 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.

Giovanni Da Procida is the only submarine known to have attempted to sink a ship during the Spanish Civil War, albeit unsuccessfully.