Italian Scuba Divers Find 16th-Century Shipwreck
The wreck of one of Italy’s largest 16th-century merchant vessels, the Santo Spirito e Santa Maria de Loreto, is believed to have been found by two scuba divers.
Gabriele Succi and Edoardo Sbaraini, who run the Rasta Divers dive center in Santa Margherita Ligure, discovered the ship in a marine protected area called Porto Pidocchio off the northern coast of Italy near Genoa. The Ragusa-style galleon currently lies in about 165 feet of seawater.
According to the Maritime Executive, the two are also commercial divers, and they came across the ship’s wooden timbers while working on an underwater construction project in February. They alerted Italy’s Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, which began investigating the ship to try to determine its authenticity and only recently announced the discovery to the public.
Historical records show the Santo Spirito e Santa Maria de Loreto wrecked in a storm off Punta Chiappa on October 29, 1579. Despite the grave risk of the bubonic plague, locals put together a team of seamen to rescue the sinking ship’s crew, but much cargo went down with the vessel and presumably still remains there today.
The ship’s identity has yet to be confirmed, as archaeological and police divers are still surveying the site and working with maritime historians to date the wreck. But if it is, in fact, the Santo Spirito e Santa Maria de Loreto, this would be Italy’s first discovery of a vessel from that period with hull timbers still intact.
The country’s Archaeology Superintendency expects ceramics, coins, navigation instruments, cannons and anchors to remain intact inside the ship, which would give historians a rare opportunity to learn more about the period’s naval architecture.
"There are only five ships of this type in the Mediterranean," Luca Trigona, an underwater archaeologist with the superintendency, tells local media. "We will need time for the organization and execution of the investigations, but the new wreck will certainly be a mine of information for the history of the Mediterranean."
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