Italian WWI Wrecks in the Greek Seas

By 1914, Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina Italiana) was ranked seventh in the world. When Italy entered into the First World War, against Austria-Hungary on the 24th of May 1915, the Regia Marina was already operating in the eastern Mediterranean. From the beginning of 1912, Italian ships were deployed towards the elimination of the Turkish fleet at the Middle East and the Red Sea and then towards the Aegean in coordination with the Greeks, and occupied the Dodecanese islands. Italy agreed to return the Dodecanese to the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Ouchy in 1912. However, the vagueness of the text allowed for a provisional Italian administration of the islands, and Turkey eventually renounced all claims on these islands in Article 15 of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

Poster presenting the Regia Marina fleet before the Great War (Source: https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com)

 

During WWI 642 Italian ships sank (899,112 tons) and 32 were damaged (106,780 tons): 15 ships sank in 1915, 123 in 1916, 139 in 1917 and 69 in 1918.

Total losses of Italian ships during WWI and names of ships wrecked in the Greek seas.

 

In the Greek seas 16 Italian ships (a total of 22.896 tons) were lost during the Great War: Antonio Sciesa SS; Carroccio SS; Caterina SV; Cirene SS; Flora SV; Marigo SV; Polcevera SS; Portaritissa SV; San Nicola SV; San Nicola SV; Scilla SS; Sofia SV; Stampalia SS; Termini SS; Tobia SV; Vicenza SS.

List of Italian wrecks in the Greek seas (Name, year Wrecked, Tonnage and Casualties)

#

Name

Wrecked

Tonnage

Casualties

1

Cirene SS

1915

3236

2

2

Scilla SS

1915

1220

3

Tobia SV

1915

185

4

Polcevera SS

1916

2239

0

5

Stampalia SS

1916

8999

≥100

6

Antonio Sciesa SS

1917

1905

0

7

Carroccio SS

1917

1657

4

8

Flora SV

1917

122

9

Marigo SV

1917

24

10

Caterina SV

1917

30

11

Termini SS

1918

1523

2

12

Vicenza SS

1918

1833

13

Portaritissa SV

1918

16

0

14

San Nicola SV

1918

29

0

15

San Nicola SV

1918

0

16

Sofia SV

1918

6


[*] Issabella Orlando is a graduate of King’s College London, writer, diver and aspiring maritime archaeologist. Inspired by new discovery and the colourful world around us at present and in the ancient past, she aims to apply her interdisciplinary interests and background in Classical Studies to innovative archaeological research and cultural heritage management.

[**] Elpidia Katopodi is a graduate of the Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Artworks with a Masters in Naval and Underwater Archeology (Universidad de Cádiz, CEI. MAR). She is a scuba diver and has been involved in the research activities of the U.S.T. since 2019.

Author: Ομάδα Εναλίων Αποτυπώσεων

Η Ομάδα Εναλίων Αποτυπώσεων (ΟΕΑ) του Εργαστηρίου Τοπογραφίας, στο Τμήμα Αγρονόμων και Τοπογράφων Μηχανικών, συνεργάζεται με τα μέλη της καταδυτικής κοινότητας για την αναζήτηση, την τεκμηρίωση, την μελέτη και την ανάδειξη των ιδιαιτεροτήτων του θαλασσίου περιβάλλοντος, αναλαμβάνοντας συγχρόνως την σχετική ενημέρωση και ευαισθητοποίηση του κοινού. Μέσω εξειδικευμένων προγραμμάτων εκπαίδευσης και ενάλιων δραστηριοτήτων που συντονίζουν ή συμμετέχουν τα μέλη της ΟΕΑ επιδιώκεται η ασφαλής και υπεύθυνη προσέγγιση στα βυθισμένα τεκμήρια της φυσικής και πολιτιστικής μας κληρονομιάς.