The Reason Italy Gave The Battleship Littorio To The United States (And What Happened To It After)

Countries giving gifts is a common practice throughout history. It's how the United States ended up with the Statue of Liberty, after all. The battleship Littorio, a type of ship the United States doesn't even use anymore, was a different kind of gift, however. It served as a trophy to the United States to commemorate the victory over Italy and its fascist leader, Benito Mussolini. Italy commissioned the battleship in 1940 and served as the lead ship of her class until it was broken down less than a decade later, in 1948. 

During its active duty, the Littorio served in the Mediterranean Sea to protect supply lines to North Africa used by the Axis forces. The Battle of Taranto in November 1940 took the Littorio out of commission after it was hit by aerial torpedoes launched from British bomber planes. It wouldn't rank as one of the deepest shipwrecks of WW2, but it did submerge before Italy retrieved it for repairs. 

The Littorio lacked radar, making it completely vulnerable to a night attack. The battleship didn't see the open seas again until March 1941. She saw a few more skirmishes between 1941 and 1942, but fuel shortages in 1943 rendered the ship inactive, with the USAF later bombing the ship again. Italy's fascist government fell, and the battleship called a few different places home before being completely dismantled.

When a military force falls to its enemies, they don't have much of a say over what happens to their equipment. In this case, the Littorio, now renamed the Italia, was surrendered to the Allied forces in September 1943 and moved to the Great Bitter Lake in Egypt. However, it saw one last battle. Since Italy joined America and its allies after defeat, Germany immediately attacked its former ally, including the fleet that the Italia was a part of. It sustained one direct hit from an anti-ship missile. Despite the damage, it managed to make it to the Great Bitter Lake.

There, the battleship remained until the end of World War II. In 1947, Italy rewarded the United States with the ship as a war prize to commemorate the new peace treaty between the two countries. Rather than keeping the ship and displaying it as a trophy, the United States returned it to La Spezia, Italy, where it was fully decommissioned and disassembled. This battleship won't be remembered as one of the most legendary from WW2 due to its repeated failures, though it is an interesting piece of history.