Italian submarine ''Comandante Cappellini'' was a World War II Italian built for the Italian Royal Navy ( it, Regia Marina). After Italy's surrender, the submarine was captured by the Japanese and handed over to Germany as ''UIT-24''. Following the capitulation of Germany, the Japanese integrated the boat into their fleet as ''I-503'' ( ja, 伊号第五百三潜水艦). Following the end of the war, the United States scuttled the submarine in 1946.

Service history

Operating under the command of '' Capitano di corvetta'' Cristiano Masi, later ''Capitano di corvetta'' Salvatore Todaro, then of '' Tenente di vascello'' Aldo Lenzi, later of ''Tenente di vascello'' Marco Revedin and ''Capitano di corvetta'' Walter Auconi, ''Comandante Cappellini'' carried out several war patrols in the Atlantic Ocean while based in BETASOM, sinking 31,648 gross registered ton of enemy shipping. She participated in the rescue of the survivors of the in September 1942. Was later converted to the transport of

strategic material Strategic material is any sort of raw material that is important to an individual's or organization's strategic plan and supply chain management. Lack of supply of strategic materials may leave an organization or government vulnerable to disru ...

s to and from Japan. After Italy's capitulation in 1943, the submarine was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy and handed over to Germany at Sabang on 10 September 1943. Commissioned into the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'' as foreign U-boat ''UIT-24'' and assigned to

12th U-boat Flotilla The 12th U-boat Flotilla (German ''12. Unterseebootsflottille'') was a German U-boat flotilla formed on 15 October 1942 at Bordeaux under the command of ''Korvettenkapitän'' Klaus Scholtz Klaus Scholtz (22 March 1908 – 1 May 1987) was a comman ...

with a mixed Italian and German crew. She remained in the Pacific because of failed attempts to return to the 12th Flotilla base at Bordeaux in occupied France. At Germany's surrender in May 1945, the submarine was taken over and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy as ''I-503 ''(her crew now a mixture of Italians, Germans, and Japanese) and shuttled between ports as a transport submarine. At Japan's surrender in August 1945, she was seized by the United States Navy, which scuttled her off

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

on 16 April 1946.

In fiction

''Cappellini'' is mentioned (and seen briefly in some scenes) in the 2011 TV movie '' The Sinking of the Laconia''. The "Capellini" and her crew are the main subject of a Japanese 2 hour TV 2022 special " Sensuikan Cappellini-go no Boken" (The adventure of the Submarine Cappellini).

Summary of raiding history

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *Léonce Peillard、長塚隆二（Translation）, ''Submarine war 1939-1945'' (潜水艦戦争 1939-1945),

Hayakawa Publishing is a Japanese publishing company, founded in 1945 by Kiyoshi Hayakawa. It is the largest science fiction publisher in Japan; almost all winners of the Seiun Award for Best Foreign Novel are published by the company. Notable books written by Japa ...

, 1979 (Japanese)

External links

Submarine I-503: Tabular Record of Movement

''Comandante Cappellini'' at regiamarina.net

About ''Comandante Cappellini'' as transport submarine to Singapore

Comandante Cappellini (1939)
Marina Militare website {{DEFAULTSORT:Comandante Cappellini Marcello-class submarines Ships built by OTO Melara Ships built in La Spezia 1939 ships World War II submarines of Italy World War II submarines of Germany World War II submarines of Japan Submarines of the Kriegsmarine Foreign submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Naval ships of Italy captured by Germany during World War II Maritime incidents in 1946 Scuttled vessels