Given the excellent performance of the Lerici Class, a second series (starting with the Gaeta) was commissioned to Intermarine by the Italian Navy. The new series incorporates similar features to the Lerici, but there are differences in displacement and hull size; the communication mast also moved from top of the bridge to in front of the exhaust funnel. The propulsion system has also been upgraded. An autopilot system has been introduced to maintain the ship on course, and the combat system has been upgraded as well.

Operational and technical results obtained by Lerici Class minehunters have confirmed the value of the project and the excellent quality of the materials used, so much so that purchase orders have been placed by several foreign Navies, including those of US, Malaysia and Nigeria.

​ITS Viareggio administratively and operationally reports to CINCNAV through the 53rd Minesweeping Flotilla Command (COMSQUADRAG 53) and Countermeasures Mines and Armed Forces Command (COMFORDRAG/COMFORAUS); is based in La Spezia.
Main Operations:
1997 - Minehunting Operational Sea Training - M.O.S.T. in Ostend (Belgium);
1999 - Clearance operation Allied Harvest in the Adriatic Sea following the Kosovo war;
February/April 2003 – Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Persian Gulf;
2011 – Operation Inas Bahr in the Arabian Peninsula with SNMCMG2 (Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2);
August/December 2012 – International exercises as part of SNMCMG2.
ITS Viareggio (optical badge N. 5559) is a Mine Hunter Coastal specifically designed to find, neutralize and destroy naval mines. Is equipped with a deep sea sonar system that can be towed to a depth of 50 meters, and two Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV), to survey and analyze objects sitting on the ocean floor to a depth of 600 meters. Is regularly used to control maritime boarders and for Search and Rescue operations.
Despite these specific features, the unit has been designed to perform “dual use” activities, usually in cooperation with public Agencies, such as the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, the Italian Judiciary and other bodies, to survey the sea depths for ship or aircraft wrecks, historical finds, or to monitor the marine environment. Thanks to a multi-place hyperbaric chamber and medical staff specialized in underwater physiopathology, the unit can be deployed on deep diving operations.