An 18th century galleon found in Italy

Listen to this article The wreck of a Spanish galleon, which dates back to the beginning of the 18th century, was found by divers near Messina in southern Italy. According to initial information, the ship probably sank as a result of fighting with the British Empire’s fleet. The find was made by accident. When an

ByTomasz Andrukajtis

Published: October 22, 2012 - 20:01

Updated: July 22, 2023 - 04:40

Listen to this article

The wreck of a Spanish galleon, which dates back to the beginning of the 18th century, was found by divers near Messina in southern Italy. According to initial information, the ship probably sank as a result of fighting with the British Empire’s fleet.

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The find was made by accident. When an officer from the Italian tax office went diving in his spare time, he did not expect that he would immediately have to call on the assistance of colleagues. Having come across metal and wooden remains on the seabed, which were fragments of ship’s guns, he immediately reported the find.

Police divers, having arrived at the site, immediately started exploration. Already after a short while they managed to find the remains of a wreck resting under water for several hundred years. Considering the conditions in the region, the galleon is in surprisingly good condition.

According to a theory put forward by Costanzo Ciaprini of the Italian Navy, the most likely course of events was that the Spanish themselves sank the galleon to prevent it falling into the hands of the hated English during the Battle of Cape Passaro on 11 August 1718.

Source: xray-mag.com

About author

Tomasz Andrukajtis

Editor-in-chief of the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Responsible for obtaining, translating and developing content. He also supervises all publications. Achived his first diving certification – P1 CMAS, in 2000. Has a degree in journalism and social communication. In the diving industry since 2008.