Did the 32 Italian submarines and other Italian vessals and their Italian crews continue fight for Germany after the end of italain command in 1943?

Answer 1

Regia Marina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There were also Italian Navy units in the Far East in 1943 when the new Italian government agreed to an armistice with the Allies. The reactions of their crews varied greatly. In general, surface units, mainly supply ships and auxiliary cruisers, either surrendered at Allied ports (Eritrea at Colombo, Ceylon) or, if in Japanese controlled ports, they were scuttled by their own crew (Conte Verde, Lepanto, and Carlotto at Shanghai). Ramb II was taken over by the Japanese in Kobe and re-named Calitea II. Four Italian submarines were in the Far East at the time of the armistice, transporting rare goods to Japan and Singapore: Ammiraglio Cagni, Cappellini(Aquilla III ), Giuliani, and Torelli. The crew of the Ammiraglio Cagni heard of the armistice and surrendered to the Royal Navy off Durban, South Africa. The Cappellini, Giuliani, and Torelli and their crews were temporarily interned by the Japanese. The boats passed to German U-boat command and, with mixed German and Italian crews, they continued to fight against the Allies. The German Navy (Kriegsmarine) assigned new officers to the three submarines. The three were re-named U.IT.23, U.IT.24and U.IT.25 and took part in German war operations in the Pacific. The Giuliani was sunk by the British submarine Tallyho in February 1944. In May 1945, the other two vessels were taken over by the Japanese Imperial Navy when Germany surrendered. About twenty Italian sailors continued to fight with the Japanese. The Torelli remained active until 30 August 1945, when, in Japanese waters, this last Fascist Italian submarine shot down a B-25 Mitchell bomber of the United States Army Air Force.