Today is the 75 anniversary of the sinking of the battleship Roma and of the destroyers From Nola e Vivaldi, the 9 September of the 1943 occurred in the north of Sardinia, following a German air attack.
Precisely for these events with Decree Law n. 260 of 27 May 1949 has been arranged the institution of the "Day of Memory of the Sailors Disappeared in the Sea", which the Navy celebrates each year in Brindisi (at the Monument to the Sailor of Italy ) and Porto Torres (on land and at sea near the sinking point), perennial memory of the sacrifice of military and civilian sailors who disappeared at sea.
During the months of July and August 2018, just to honor the sacrifice of those sailors, the minesweeper Vieste of the Navy conducted research to relocate the wreck of the flagship unit of the Royal Navy.
The sunken hull of the battleship Roma, which became a military shrine and guardian of the remains of 1.393 Mariani perished at sea, had indeed already been located in the 2012 after decades of research to over 1.200 meters of depth and about 16 miles from the coast of the Gulf of Asinara, right in the north of Sardinia .
For the first time in history, thanks to the help of the technology that distinguishes the self-contained self-driving vehicles supplied on board of Nave Vieste, several sections of the wreck have been identified, results reversed and, in some cases buried, inside the deep canyon of Castelsardo, on a particularly impervious and rocky seabed.
The activities carried out by Nave Vieste among other things, they brought to light numerous exceptional details of the hull and superstructures, such as the stern part, the forward part where there is the presence of one of the "Pugliese" cylinders - used at the time for the absorption of underwater explosions - as well as the midship superstructures such as the dashboard, the wheelhouse, the signal station, the towers containing medium and large caliber weapons, a stern catapult sled for launching the RO43 type reconnaissance seaplanes, an anti- air composed of 6 guns, rangefinders and the "admiral bridge", the latter symbol of the battleship Roma where Admiral Bergamini gave the last orders 9 September 1943, before making his heroic gesture by sinking with the ship.
These incredible high resolution images were captured in real time by the underwater vehicle of the Vieste that operates at high depths, up to altitudes higher than 1.500 meters, through the help of a console managed by the specialized personnel of the Navy on board the ship.
This activity has a very strong dual and complementary value, confirming the capabilities that the Navy can make available to the community, the superintendencies, the research world, the academic world and institutions.
The historical importance of the research carried out is the umpteenth testimony of the commitment of the Navy in the maintenance of the historical memory of the past and of the memory of the Sailors who fell in the performance of their duty, men who sacrificed their lives in the service of our country .
