The ever changing fortunes of war sometimes produce strange results. Such was the case of the Luigi Torelli, an Italian submarine launched on January 6, 1940. Serving under the Italian flag until the Italian capitulation, she was taken over by Germany and commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on Sept. 10, 1943 and renamed UIT-25. One more official change of flags took place on May 10, 1945 when she was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy and renamed I-504. Alas the submarine that served in all three Axis navies would end up in American custody after the war and ultimately was scuttled. (One other Italian submarine also served in all three Axis navies, the
Comandante Alfredo Capellini became the UIT-24 and later the I-503.) |
