Centro Immersioni Costa Viola
DIVING THE VIMINALE WRECK
Contents
The M.S. Viminale The sinking The discovery of the wreck Diving the wreck
History TODAY
1923
BEGINNING OF THE M.S. VIMINALE In 1923 Admiral Costanzo Ciano disposes the appropriation of 120 milions of lira of the time, in order to build 350.000 tsl of shipping. The desire of italian government was to encuorauge the introduction of the internal combustion chamber engines, that appeared for the first time in the Italian shipping in 1923, with the construction of two tankers. Lloyd Triestino ship company, the first one to use this type of propulsion for passenger liners, ordered the construction of two motor ships, the Esquilino and the Viminale, to the Shipyard San Rocco in Muggia, Trieste.
History 1923
TODAY
1924
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS Name: Viminale Owner: Lloyd Triestino Overall Lenghth: 140 mt Beam: 17,37 mt Draught: 8,32 mt Displacement: 15810 tons Tonnage: 8657 tons Engines Power: 4.590 hp Max Speed: 13,5 knots Crew: 74
History 1923
1924
TODAY
9 May 1925
THE LAUNCH
In 1925 Italy was the third country in the world for shipping production, after Germany with 73 on building ships for a total amount of 306.626 tons, and Great Britain with 257 ships for a total amount of 1.009.155 tons.
History 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
TODAY
THE VIMINALE COURSES During an oronable period of 18 years of service, Viminale’s main courses contemplated the Far East, Shanghai, Kobe in Japan, and mainly Sidney in Australia. In the mid 30’s of 20th century Viminale stopped these roots and headed towards the african colonies. In the 40’s the Italian Navy commandeered the liner for soldier transport.
History 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
THE LINER
While on service in the Far East as a liner, Viminale worked as a passenger as well as a cargo ship.
TODAY
History 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
25 July 1943
THE SLC AND THE CHARIOT Italian Navy was the first corpse to recognise the value of rebreather technology in underwater operations combined with the SLC. The English Navy, with the Chariot, rapidly adopted this type of weapon. The diagram of a SLC with the two divers equipped with Oxygen CCR
In 1934, two engineers from the Italian Navy, Teseo Tesei and Elio Toschi, drawed one of the first versions of what we now call “Siluro a Lenta Corsa” (SLC): Slow Motion Torpedo. An explosive torpedo capable of transporting two underwater operators.
TODAY
History 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
25 July 1943
THE ATTACK On 25th July 1943, at 02:15 while towed by the tug boats Forte and the Tenax, Viminale ship was torpedoed.
TODAY
History 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
25 July 1943
TODAY
THE SINKING During the requisition period Viminale had been attacked by Bristol airplanes, Submarines torpedo, Charriots and PT Boat
On 25th July 1943, at 02:15 a.m. one mile far from the coast at the traverse of Pietrenere - Palmi, it was hit by a torpedo on the left side of the stern. Viminale finally exhaled its final breath.
History 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
25 July 1943
TODAY
PT BOAT The PT Boat used during the Viminale attack belonged to the “Higgings� class from PT 201 to 218. This type of fast cruiser boat was first designed by Attilio Bisio during WW1. In WW2 Italian, English, German, American and Russian navy adopted this type of vessel for coast operations.
The 533mm torpedo, used during the Viminale attack
The Discovery 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
25 July 1943
Spring 2000
THE LEGEND In 2000 Rocco Tedesco, founder of Centro Immersioni Costa Viola, meets Ernesto Benfatto, a fisherman from Palmi who reported to be witness of the sinking. This was the beginning of the investigation about what fisherman called “Bastimentu�.
PT Boat 201 and 208
TODAY
The Discovery 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
25 July 1943
RESEARCH
Ernesto Benfatto, with Rocco Tedesco named “The President” and Giuseppe Dato called by friends “Cinese”, decide to investigate the area where Ernesto had been fishing for the last 40 years. The M/Y Odissea is then used to conduct the research.
Spring 2000
TODAY
The Wreck 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
25 July 1943
THE FIRST DIVE The first dive on the target was conducted by the end of september 2000, by a very skillfull team of divers and photographers, all diving on open circuit. A very big vessel standing on the upright position had been located. Its identification still was far from being accomplished.
Spring 2000
Sept. 2000
TODAY
The Wreck 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
25 July 1943
Spring 2000
Sept. 2000
TODAY
THE IDENTIFICATION During the first dives some artefacts were recovered in order to find helpful indications on the ship company or liner name.
The crest LTS identified the Lloyd Triestino ship company.
The Wreck 1923
1924
9 May 1925
28 October 1926
25 July 1943
THE IDENTIFICATION
The name of the ship was carved on the bell, but several decades on the bottom of the sea had helped many marine organism to grow on it thus hiding its identity. Further research occourred to finally recognise the ship and its details.
Spring 2000
Sept. 2000
TODAY
Expeditions
Since the discover of Viminale wreck, thousand of divers came from all over the world to Palmi. Each expedition has been scheduled and organized in its details by the most skilled divers. During these years, almost one expedition a year has been organized. The best period for diving Viminale wreck is during springtime, because the weather is fine, conditions are good and sunlight is longlasting. Here come some of the expeditions we arranged.
Expeditions
Viminale Expedition 2000
Rocco Tedesco Aldo Ferrucci Antonello Paone Gianluca Managò Paolo Barone Giuseppe Dato Roberto Rinaldi
Expeditions
June 2010 - UTR Tek
Rolando Di Giorgio Marcello Bussotti Massimo Barnini Michele Fedrigoli Sabrina Cattaneo
Expeditions
October 2011 - Aldo Ferrucci Aldo Ferrucci Rino Sgorbani Adam Wysoczanski Vic Verlinden Nicla Capatti Pim Van Der Horst Marco Valenti Drazen Goricki Jordi Mateo
Expeditions
September 2014 - JJ CCR Divers Severine Bar Frank Ratzel Manfred Fuehrmann Erich Pawelka Michael Klemm Christian Wanko Andreas Bohmann Guenther Gassner Felix Hermann Gunther Koch
Proximity
ORGANIZATION Gioia Tauro Port
Total surface area: 56,35 square miles
Due to heavy containers ship carriers traffic, the one in Gioia Tauro is considered the most important port in the south EU for movement of goods.
Proximity
ORGANIZATION Gioia Tauro Port
The heavy containers ship carriers traffic is another very delicate aspect to consider in the dive plan. Drift deco are NOT to be carried out, at all time.
The wreckline stands very near to the Port of Gioia Tauro, which is a restricted area for commercial ship, and lies a few miles away from the Port of Palmi, where we set dives and operations.
Safety
ORGANIZATION The Logistic for the Gas
Booster pump O2 clean Air driven
Gas supply and filling in general is another critical aspect in the planning of the expedition. CCR do rappresent the logic choise.
He and O2 50lt tanks
Safety
ORGANIZATION The Logistic for Safety Open Circuit emergency gas for bailout and surface supply
Rib to be deployed on all dives for safety reason. Hyperbaric Chamber address: Via Bruno Buozzi, 89015 Palmi (RC) tel: 0966 261027 15/20 minutes drive from Gioia Tauro port depending on road traffic.
Gear
M/Y ODISSEA Length: 19mt Beam: 5,20mt Engines: 2 x 230 HP Max Speed: 12 knots Electrcity: 220v, 24v Cabins: 6 doubles Bathrooms: 6 Tender: 7mt rib
Gear
Gear
TECHNOLOGY The most sofisticated technology is deployed in order to scan the sea-bed that in this area reaches depth ranging from 110m to 120m. “Cinese� is an expert deep diver, and knows very well this area, lashed by strong currents.
Gear
ORGANIZATION The most important rule to follow at all time during the planning and while diving, is the SAFETY one.
Deco Station & refill
Bailout gas and deco station setting
Gear
ORGANIZATION
O2 @ 6m.
Nx50 @ 21m.
Tx 35/25 @ 34m.
Tx 17/50 @ 50m.
Tx 17/50 @ 75m.
Emergency deco line
Red Marker/Release carabiner Tags Decompression station layout
Risk
ORGANIZATION The Logistic for Safety
Vessels and ships cruise the area, so we always recommend to stay close to the ribs and always avoid drift deco
Dive
DESCENDING
It is vitally recommended to evaluate if the weather conditions are suitable for this type of dive. In this area the weather can rapidly change, and strong current can be running with flat calm seas.
Gallery
THE WRECK
Gallery
THE WRECK
The corridors
Gallery
THE WRECK
The bell
Gallery
THE WRECK
The bow
Gallery
THE WRECK
Ammunitions left on board
Gallery
THE WRECK
The interior
Gallery
THE WRECK
Lavatories
Gallery
THE WRECK
Lavatories
Gallery
THE WRECK
The kitchen
Gallery
THE WRECK
The interior
Gallery
THE WRECK
Engine room
Gallery
THE WRECK
Engine room
Deco
TO THE SURFACE The long decompression that has to be completed after an average bottom time of 20-25 minutes leads the runtime to 180 minutes.
Diver on decompression on the 2000 Open Circuit Expedition
Deco station
TO THE SURFACE On long CCR decompressions OC Air Brakes are introduced to help the tollarance of high CNS load.
The Narghile is a simple system that can be deployed from the surface and monitored by the surface crew
Back on board
TO THE SURFACE Open circuit support diver surfacing after 2 hours of assistance to the bottom divers
A CCR bottom diver surfacing after a dive
After the dive
RELAX AND RECOVERY Odissea is very comfortable for gears recovery too
Divers relax and have fun after the dive
END OF DIVE BUT IT’S BEEN ONLY A VIRTUAL DIVE, RELIZED FOR YOU TO COME AND DISCOVER
THE VIMINALE WRECK