The ceremonies commemorating the sinking of the cruiser were held on 27 April in La Maddalena and Palau Trieste, which took place on 10 April 1943 in the waters of the La Maddalena Archipelago, near Punta Sardegna, when World War II bombs sank the cruiser, causing the death of 77 sailors.
The preparatory operations that began on 22 April last saw the deposition of the "Angelo del Trieste" in the Gallura sea by Nave Tavolara, with the collaboration of the divers of the SDAI nucleus of La Maddalena. The underwater bronze statue, more than two meters high and weighing over three tons, commissioned by the municipalities of Palau and La Maddalena on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the sinking, was positioned on a 13-metre sandy bottom .
Celebrations began mid-morning aboard Nave Orione with the deposition of a laurel wreath in the waters of the sinking. The commander of the western autonomous maritime command, Rear Admiral Enrico Pacioni, the mayors of La Maddalena and Palau, Dr. Fabio Lai and Dr. Francesco Manna, the bishop of Tempio-Ampurias, ser mons. Sebastiano Sanguinetti, and the main civil and military territorial authorities.
In the late morning, after disembarking from Nave Orione, a commemorative procession reached the church of Nostra Signora delle Grazie in Palau, accompanied by the fanfare of the north maritime interregional command of La Spezia, where the parish priest don Paolo Pala and the bishop Sanguinetti, together with the authorities present, discovered a slab dedicated to sailors of the Cruiser Trieste.
The procession then continued towards the Sciumara beach where the Fanfare of the Navy performed with themed repertoire pieces.
The work of positioning the statue on the seabed was entrusted to the naval unit of the MTF class (Moto Transport Lighthouses) of the 1st group of auxiliary vessels of La Spezia, currently engaged in the Lighthouses 2023 campaign in the Sardinia area, an activity that the Navy carries out constantly along the entire Italian coast for the benefit of navigation safety and aimed at the maintenance of maritime signals. The vessel's characteristics, such as its high maneuverability and low draft which allow it to operate close to the coast, have made it the ideal vessel for this delicate type of operation.
