What U-boat class is shown in this pic ??

[zbv500]

Hi all,

just a quick question, can anybody identify the U-boat class of the boat in this pic ?
Thanks, Jens

[Wilhelm]

I've never seen such a boat. Must be captured from some other nation. Good luck.
Wilhelm

[randy@treadways]

No, it's definitely German, and looks like it's a derivative of the Type XIIC.

What's unusual is the double periscope housings. As I understand it, that was proposed but never went into production. Maybe this was a prototype boat?

The big gun looks like it might be a little bigger than usually found on the Type XIIC's.... but it might just be the photo angle.

[Torpedomaat]

It is not the German U-boat or prototype but the Italian Submarine of the Regia Marina.
Search on the Internet for "BETASOM".
I think that it is one of the Liuzzi class though I know little about Italian subs.

Best regards,
Haruki

[randy@treadways]

Indeed, the twin periscope housings and the big gun match UIT-22 (ex Italian Alpino Bagnolini) and UIT-23 (ex Italian Reginaldo Giuliani), but with slight differences at the front of the conning tower. So I guess it's from the same class as those two.

[zbv500]

Thanks alot for your valued opinion. So what did this Italian Uboat do in a German habour late in the war ?

Thanks, Jens

[randy@treadways]

Following the Italian surrender in 1943, the Germans confiscated whatever Italian equipment they thought could be useful and put it into their own service.
Much of the Italian submarine fleet was based at the big German U-boat port at Bordeaux, and was simply turned over to the Kriegsmarine.

However, there is not a date on this photo, and we don't see enough of the flag to identify the nation. So we can't tell whether the photo shows it in Italian service prior to Sept. '43, or in German service after that time.
That is... unless some of you uniform experts can identify the sailors' uniforms.

I now see that these two boats received a major refitting in July '43, shortly before the Italian capitulation, to convert them from attack subs to long range transport subs. This may account for the minor differences in the front of the conning tower. In fact, your photo matches the configuration of the UIT-22 (the Bagnolini) in a couple of photos of it in Kriegsmarine service.