Scuba diving at the Santa Rita shipwreck

The Santa Rita shipwreck is a large merchant ship; it is 116 metres long, approximately 16 metres wide and has a gross tonnage of 5162 tons. Today the bow is missing because the ship ran into an unexploded mine.

The ship was launched in 1908 by the Cantieri Navali Reuniti Shipping Company in Palermo under the name of Monginevro, then in 1911 it was handed over to the Società Veneziana di Navigazione a Vapore Shipping Company under the name of Veniero; in 1932 it was called Boheme by the Industrie Navali Shipping Company of Genova, and later it was sold to the Transmediterranea S.A. Shipping Company and its name became Panormus.

In 1939 the name was changed again, Veniero, and finally it became Santa Rita when it was sold to the Ruggero & Merega S.A. and Vittorio De Castro Shipping Company in Genova. During the two World Wars it never went back to the Italian Navy nor was it ever used as a State auxiliary ship, but during World War II it suffered some damage; it was on March 28th 1946 that it sank after hitting a mine that had probably not been set off once the war had ended.

Even today the ship is upright and in good condition.

Photographs kindly lent by Riccardo Buralli - Diving in Elba