(ORDO NEWS) — The submarine Velella, belonging to Italy, sank on September 7, 1943. It happened literally five hours before Italy agreed to surrender to its Allies.
There were 52 people on the submarine. All of them died because the ship was hit by torpedoes launched by the British submarine Shakespeare.
For a long time, no one could say exactly where the Velella actually sank. Scientists used modern technologies, as well as high-resolution cameras.
With their help, divers were able to determine the exact location of the submarine, its remains were discovered near the coast of Naples.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that researchers managed to find the site of the disaster in 2003. However, until recently, they were not entirely sure that it was definitely an Italian submarine.
The wreckage is located at a depth of about 140 meters at a distance of 16 kilometers from the shore.
Riccia Ortolani and Giovanni Filangieri, who had previously repeatedly talked about the search for this submarine, said that the death of the crew was “an unnecessary sacrifice for anyone.”
At that moment, Italy had already practically surrendered, so the order to send a submarine to Salerno to monitor the landing of allied forces could not be carried out.
The Velella was commissioned by the Portuguese government, but the development was soon transferred to Italy.
The construction of the submarine was completed in 1936. When the Berlin Pact was concluded in 1940, the submarine was sent to the Mediterranean Sea.
For a long time, the ship sailed between the coast of Turkey and the island of Rhodes. Then it was partially converted and sent to the Atlantic Ocean, where four patrols were made.
After them, Velella again headed to the Mediterranean Sea. During all this time, she managed to sink a merchant ship and a tanker.
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