Italian submarine Luigi Torelli
| History | |
|---|---|
 Italy
|
|
| Name: | Luigi Torelli |
| Builder: | Oto (La Spezia, Italy) |
| Launched: | 6 January 1940 |
| Homeport: | BETASOM, Bordeaux |
| Fate: | Seized by the Japanese in September 1943 and handed over to Nazi Germany |
 Nazi Germany
|
|
| Name: | UIT-25 |
| Acquired: | September 1943 |
| Fate: | Incorporated into the Japanese Navy following the German surrender in May 1945 |
 Japan
|
|
| Name: | I-504 |
| Acquired: | May 1945 |
| Fate: | Captured by the U.S. Navy and scuttled on 16 April 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Marconi-class submarine |
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: | 251 ft (77 m) |
| Beam: | 22.4 ft (6.8 m) |
| Draught: | 15.6 ft (4.8 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 17.8 / 8.2 knots (surfaced/submerged) |
| Complement: | 57 |
| Armament: |
|
Luigi Torelli was a Marconi-class submarine of the Italian navy during World War II. The vessel operated in the Atlantic from late-summer 1940 until mid-1943, then was sent to the Far East. After Italy’s surrender in 1943, the Torelli was taken over by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, then, in the waning months of the war, the Japanese Imperial Navy. It was one of only two ships to serve in all three major Axis navies, the other being the Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini.
Luigi Torelli was built at the Oto shipyard in La Spezia, Italy. One of six boats of the Marconi-class submarine, which were laid down in 1938-39, Luigi Torelli was launched in January 1940. Designed as an ocean-going vessel, she was intended for operations both in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic.
When Italy entered World War II in June 1940 the Luigi Torelli was still completing its training and shakedown period. Afterward, it conducted a short reconnaissance mission in the Gulf of Genoa, and was then dispatched to the Atlantic to Bordeaux in occupied France to serve in the Italian submarine flotilla there.
Between 11–29 September 1940, the Luigi Torelli was assigned to patrol an area just off the Azores Islands. On 5 October 1940, she reached Bordeaux. In the following weeks, the boat left port several times and made short practice missions.
On 15 January 1941, the Luigi Torelli sighted a small convoy and sank the Greek vessel Nemea, the Norwegian vessel Brask and the Greek vessel Nicolas Filinis. A fourth vessel was also damaged, but escaped due to the foul weather. This was one of the few examples of an Italian submarine achieving great results while participating in a Wolfpack attack, according to Regia Marina Italiana. Two weeks later, the Luigi Torelli sank the British vessel Urla. In July 1941, she sank the Norwegian tanker Ida Knudsen. A year later, she sank the British vessel Scottish Star and the Panamanian motor tanker Esso Copenhagen.
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Wikipedia