Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Regia Marina — Submarine

Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini

Marcello-class submarine

Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini
unknown, maybe IJN or shipyards in Japan. — 福井静夫『写真日本海軍全艦艇史』ベストセラーズ、1994年。 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate German submarine UIT24 in the Inland Sea, Japan, August 1944. The former Italian submarine Comandante Cappelini , it was later operated by the Japanese Navy as I-503 .

Service

  1. Regia Marina as Comandante Cappellini23 September 1939 — 10 September 19431,448 days of the war
  2. Kriegsmarine as UIT-246 December 1943 — 10 May 1945521 days of the war
  3. Imperial Japanese Navy as I-50314 July 1945 — 16 April 194650 days of the war
Marcello-class submarine Particulars
Name
Comandante Cappellini
Laid down
25 April 1938
Launched
14 May 1939
Commissioned
23 September 1939
Fate
Captured by the U.S. Navy in August 1945 and scuttled on 16 April 1946 (1946)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
1,060 long tons (1,077 t)
Displacement, submerged
1,313 long tons (1,334 t)
Length
73 m (239.5 ft)
Beam
7.19 m (23.6 ft)
Draught
5.1 m (16.7 ft)
Speed
17.4 knots (32.2 km/h, 20 mph)
Complement
58
Main gun
100 mm (3.9 in)

Comandante Cappellini was a Marcello-class submarine in service with the Regia Marina. Her keel was laid on 25 April 1938. She entered service on 23 September 1939, having been launched on 14 May 1939.

Her class ran to four ships.

The boat displaced 1,060 long tons surfaced and 1,313 long tons submerged. She measured 73 m (240 ft) long with a beam of 7.2 m (24 ft). Her designed speed was 17.4 knots, and she carried a complement of 58.

Her main battery was two 100 mm (3.9 in) guns.

She served with the Regia Marina as Comandante Cappellini until 10 September 1943. She then passed to the Kriegsmarine, serving as UIT-24 from 6 December 1943. She then passed to the Imperial Japanese Navy, serving as I-503 from 14 July 1945. She was in commission for 2,019 days of the Second World War.

She was scuttled on 16 April 1946. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • Diesel-electric
  • 2 × Fiat diesel engines
  • 2 × CRDA electric motors
Armament
  • 8 × 21 in torpedo tubes (4 bow, 4 stern)
  • 2 × 100 mm/47 caliber guns
  • 4 × 13.2 mm machine guns

Sister ships

Sources

  • Facts harvested from Italian submarine Comandante Cappellini on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: unknown, maybe IJN or shipyards in Japan. — 福井静夫『写真日本海軍全艦艇史』ベストセラーズ、1994年。 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons