The wreck of the 1941 submarine Jantina was found in the Aegean Sea.

The wreck of the Italian submarine Jantina was found in the Aegean Sea. The vessel was sunk by the British ship HMS Torbay in 1941.

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80 years after being sunk in the Aegean Sea, Greeks have found the wreck of the vessel Jantina. The Italian submarine sank the British submarine HMS Torbay in a torpedo attack on 5 July 1941. From then on it was known that the wreck was resting in the area, but a precise location was lacking.

This was the case until recently. During an inspection of a fibre optic cable, a team led by Kostas Thoktaridis found and identified the wreck. Italian submarine It rests at a depth of 103 metres, near the island of Mykonos.

We located Yantina at a depth of 103 metres, off the coast of Mykonos. We knew it was located in this area, but we did not know exactly where. The exact location was possible thanks to remotely operated ROVs – Kostas Thoktaridis told AMNA news agency.

Apart from being an underwater inspection specialist,Kostas Thoktaridis is also very passionate about history and ships. From an early age, he was fascinated by the fate of vessels involved in conflicts at sea. Thanks to this passion, he has already discovered the final resting place of several ships in his work.

In addition to the above the submarine Yantina has also had other successes. Together with the Greek navy, he has located, among other things, the the wreck of the submarine Y-1 Katsonis. In addition, he has other wrecks found in the region of Mykonos, Skiatos, Kefalonia and the Saronic Gulf.

Jantina

The Italian submarine Jantina went to sea in 1932 from a shipyard in La Spezia, Italy. She measured 61.5 metres in length and had a displacement of 810 tonnes. The ship had a maximum speed of 14 knots at the surface and 8 knots underwater. The maximum operating depth of the vessel was 80 m. The ship’s armament consisted of four torpedo launchers on the bow and two on the stern and a 102 mm gun.

The vessel set sail on its last journey from the island of Leros in Greece. A total of 48 crew members were on board. In the afternoon of 5 July 1941, the ship surfaced near Mykonos and sailed west. It was then spotted by a British the submarine HMS Torbay. The vessel set sail from Alexandria, Egypt, and was conducting a patrol in the Aegean Sea.

Without doubt, a battle between two submarines is a fairly rare event at sea. HMS Torbay, according to the commander’s log entry, located Yantina at a distance of 4 NM, sounded the alarm and, being at periscope depth, took up a fighting position. At 20.16, the British launched a torpedo attack from a distance of 1500 m – – Thoktaridis describes.

Although the first two torpedoes passed in front of the Italian ship and did not reach their target, the second salvo did not miss and caused a very powerful explosion. As a result, the Yantina sank quickly and only six of the crew were rescued.