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Ship’s Wheel from the R.N. Partenope
In January 2026, the Monuments Men and Women Foundation returned to the Italian State a brass ship’s wheel dating to 1938 and belonging to the Italian Navy. Originating from the Spica-class torpedo boat R.N. Partenope, the wheel had been removed from Naples during World War II and remained in private hands in the United States for decades before its owners initiated its restitution through the Foundation.
AT A GLANCE…
Object:
The object is a brass ship’s wheel dating to 1938, originating from the Italian Spica-class torpedo boat R.N. Partenope. Measuring approximately 95 centimeters in diameter and weighing 13 kilograms, the wheel has eight spokes and shows minor damage, including the loss of one brass cap on a handle tip.
Circumstances of Loss:
Following Italy’s armistice with the Allies in early September 1943, the R.N. Partenope—damaged earlier in the war—was abandoned and scuttled in dry dock in Naples during the German occupation of the city. In 1944, the ship’s wheel was acquired in Naples by a U.S. Navy officer and taken to the United States, where it remained with his family for decades.
Restitution:
In January 2026, after research and authentication carried out by the Monuments Men and Women Foundation in collaboration with the Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale and the Museo Tecnico Navale, the ship’s wheel was formally returned to the Italian State during a diplomatic event held at the residence of the Italian Ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C.
Discovery and Research
The case came to the Foundation’s attention in October 2021, when the family of a U.S. Navy officer contacted the Monuments Men and Women Foundation seeking guidance on the return of a brass ship’s wheel that had been in their possession since World War II. Initial correspondence included photographs and measurements of the object, which the Foundation’s researchers identified as consistent with a wheel from an Italian Spica-class torpedo boat dating to the late 1930s.
Research into the object’s wartime history focused on events in Naples following Italy’s armistice with the Allies, publicly announced on September 8, 1943. Following this, the port city was under German control and contained numerous damaged or disabled Italian naval vessels. The R.N. Partenope, which had been damaged by Allied air raids earlier that summer, had returned to Naples for repairs and was lying in dry dock when Italian forces abandoned the ship. Before German capture, Italian crews sabotaged its engines to prevent reuse.
As German troops withdrew from Naples later that month, they implemented a scorched-earth policy, demolishing port infrastructure and destroying vessels with explosives, including the already disabled Partenope. Contemporary photographs taken in October 1943 document the ship’s partially submerged wreckage in dry dock no. 2, as Allied forces began salvage operations in the devastated harbor. During this chaotic period, naval equipment and other materials were frequently removed from damaged vessels, either as salvage or as souvenirs, creating conditions under which objects such as the ship’s wheel could be displaced.
To confirm the identification, the Foundation consulted Italian authorities, including the Museo Tecnico Navale and the Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale. Based on comparative analysis with period naval equipment and archival photographs, Italian experts concluded that the wheel could be attributed with a high degree of certainty to the R.N. Partenope and emphasized its historical and cultural significance. With the object’s provenance established, the Foundation proceeded to coordinate its formal restitution to the Italian State.
Restitution
The restitution of the ship’s wheel took place on January 20, 2026, at the residence of the Italian Ambassador to the United States, in the context of an event marking the 25th anniversary of the Cultural Property Agreement between Italy and the United States. Hosted by the Embassy of Italy and bringing together policymakers, cultural heritage experts, and law enforcement partners, the gathering highlighted decades of bilateral cooperation to protect cultural property.
As part of the program, the Monuments Men and Women Foundation formally presented the ship’s wheel to representatives of the Italian State, underscoring the shared commitment of both nations to returning cultural heritage to its rightful home and strengthening longstanding transatlantic cultural diplomacy.
“As an Italian, moments like this carry a special resonance for me, but what makes them truly meaningful is seeing Italy and the United States working together to return cultural heritage to its rightful home,” said MMWF President Anna Bottinelli.
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