Italian submarine ''Comandante Cappellini'' was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Italian built for the

Italian Royal Navy The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

( 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 BETASOM (an Italian language acronym of ''Bordeaux Sommergibile'' or ''Sommergibili'') was a submarine base established at Bordeaux, France by the Italian '' Regia Marina Italiana'' during World War II. From this base, Italian submarines particip ...

, 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 The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

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 Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

. 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 The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, which

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

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'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. 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