Sinking of Regina Margherita
25/08/2014 00:00
The Washington Agreement Must Be Reactivated! 06/01 19:04
Almost one century ago, the Italian ship “Regina Margerita” went through the Vlore Bay sea mines.
On 11 December 1916, the Italian ship had put the lights out to avoid German and Austrian submarines. The ship sank very fast, taking down 675 marines, including Admiral De Orvi.
This was one of the biggest losses of the Italian Fleet during the First World War. The ship was ultra-modern, built by Benedetto Brini. It was considered as invincible. But it went through mines and was lost forever.
It is still unknown today who put the mines in that course. Was it the German submarine U-14, which claims to have been there during that fatal night? Or was it a mistake of the commanders, who went through the mines placed by Italians themselves?
There is no clear answer even today about those who are responsible for the sinking of one of the best Italian ships at that time.
To answer these questions and to discover the reality of “Regina Margerita”, the national Coastline Agency, together with the Marine Fleet and the Ministry of Defense organized a dive at the historic relict.
The footage taken 80 meters under water will be part of a documentary that will be shown in the next UNESCO meeting about the First World War, a historic event that affected even our country.
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