An Italian submarine that was sunk by accident by a British warship during the First World War has been found after lying on the seabed for more than a century.

HMS Cyclamen mistook the submarine, Alberto Guglielmotti, for a German U-boat and sank her by gunfire and ramming off the island of Capraia, between Corsica and the Italian coast, in March 1917.

Italy and Britain were allies during the First World War, although they would find themselves on opposite sides during the Second World War.

The 14 crew members on board all lost their lives.

The submarine was on its way from the big Italian naval base of La Spezia, on Italy’s west coast, to Brindisi in the Adriatic when it was spotted by the British warship, which mistook it for a German U-boat and sank it.