"At that time, Italian troops were experiencing difficulties against the
British army in the North African front. Thus Hitler decided to send there
German reinforce troops," Pietro Faggioli, who led the "Mizar 4" expedition,
told Discovery News.
"Lots of ships carrying supply convoys sank en route
from Italy to the North Africa coast. Indeed, the British prevented the
Axis moves in the Mediterranean as they managed to decipher the German
Navy's communications," he said.
Among the wrecks found, Faggioli and colleagues decided to focus on the
Italian cruiser Armando Diaz, which was torpedoed and sunk by the British
submarine HMS Upright off the island of Kerkennah during escort service
in support of a Tripoli-bound Italian convoy in 1941.
As the 5,000-ton cruiser went under, 464 crew died.
"This is the first Italian cruiser that has been found in the Mediterranean.
Its sinking represents one of the most tragic episodes in the Battle of
the Convoys," Faggioli said.
The cruiser, 160 meters long and 15 meters wide, was used to cover, in company
with cruiser Bande Nere and two destroyers, an important supply convoy from
Naples to Tripoli.
But in the early hours of Feb. 25, 1941, the submarine HMS Upright sighted
the ships and fired four torpedoes. A torpedo hit the Armando
Diaz between the first and the second tower, right where the ammunition
was stored. The ship sank in six minutes after a huge explosion.
"We found the wreck, lying on the left side, the cannons headed toward
(its) enemy. It was an impressive sight. A large part of the ship, about 30
meters, was completely pulverized by the explosion. The men of the crew
who were in that area were dissolved. Nothing remains of them," Faggioli
said.
Other sailors were trapped in different areas of the ship, their remains
still lying on the sea floor. Only 147 sailors, who were in safer areas,
survived. Faggioli's team left a plate by the wreck: "Italians did not forget
you," it says.
There is no doubt that the cruiser is the Armando Diaz, since the divers
took pictures showing the ship's name.
The discovery is also consistent with accounts from the historic archives
of the Italian Navy.
"There was a first explosion, then a bigger, second one similar to a fire
fountain. You could see pieces of the ship flying in the air. Then everything
disappeared," said an official from the other Italian escort cruiser Bande
Nere.
Faggioli and colleagues plan to uncover other ships on a second expedition
next summer.
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