Wreck of the ship Roma found

A group of divers have located the wreck of the Italian World War II warship Roma. The vessel was sent to the bottom by German bombers who did not like the purpose of the voyage. The crew was going to Malta to surrender to the Allies. On 3 September 1943. The German army did not hesitate to sink the flagship of the Italian fleet.

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After a search lasting several years, the final resting place of the Roma and her crew was determined by the Italian Navy. Unfortunately, the wreck is beyond human reach. About 16mil off Sardinia, Italy’s most modern ship at the time, took the captain and 1,352 crewmen 1,000m below the water’s surface.

During her short service, the flagship of the Italian fleet, she made only 20 voyages between ports and was never involved in any hostilities. Vittorio Veneto class ships, were equipped with nine heavy 15″ guns.

Roma and three other battleships of the same class, eight cruisers and eight destroyers, sailed in secret from the Germans. Officially, the convoy was to attack the Allies approaching Salerno, but the real intention was to surrender after the capitulation of Italy.

The intelligence of the Third Reich, having realised the situation, decided to attack Italian units using the new Ruhrstahl SD 1400 X guided bombs, specially designed to destroy heavily armoured units. The air support promised to the Italians never materialised.

As a result of the attack, the ships Italia and Roma were hit. The latter very unluckily in one of the ammunition depots. This led to an explosion and the rapid sinking of the battleship. The rest of the group reached Malta safely and mostly anchored in St. Paul’s Bay.

Source: timesofmalta.com