The Italian post-war MC 485 was the former S 67 or S 83?

[de domenico]

The usual sources, including Groener, state that the Marina Militare MV 621 later MS 621 and finally in 1954 MS then MC 485 was the former British prize S 67,  sold in private hands in 1947/48 as TORUES, purchased in UK by the Marina Militare on 1 February 1952.
However, a very careful Erminio Bagnasco in his essay "Schnellboote. Le motosiluranti tedesche 1939-1945",  in "Storia Militare Briefing" no. 18, 1 December 2019, remarks on page 94 that Juan Luis Coello Lillo in his excellent book "Buques de la Armada Espanola. Los Anos de la Postguerra", Aldaba Ediciones, Madrid 1998, page 219, writes that "In early February 1949 the opportunity arose to reinforce the [Spanish S-Boote] flotilla with a new launch of the S 38 Type, when the Spanish naval attaché in London  received a sale offer for 20,000 pounds - amenable to discount and increase up to 4 or 5 more launches - which he brought to the attention of the Military Marine Ministry. The launch under discussion was no other than the former S 83, moored in Ostend and registererd as a yacht under the name TORUS and Canadian flag, which however had kept her military look intact, still having her torpedo tubes and the fittings for the bow, deck and stern guns. She also had her surcharged engines of the MB511 model, with a total of 7,500 bhp maximum power for a speed of around 41 knots, as also the armoured bridge installed in the final part of the war (the "Kaloetten Brucke").  She had been subjected to a six-month full refit in Cowes, so that her hull and equipment were in perfect condition, and the offer included a lot of spares for the  engines, a set of screws and a spare anchor. The offer looked interesting, if only as a source of spares for the LT 21 to LT 26, but the Ministry refused it without even inspecting the launch, discouraged by the great difficulties involved  in providing the necessary foreign money."

Is anybody able to help here?

[Urs Heßling]

hi,

it is, at least, possible.

greetings, Urs