Research and photos by George Karelas submitted to www.ww2wrecks.com and used by permission

English text by Pierre Kosmidis/www.ww2wrecks.com

Gruppo Industriale Marzotto in Valdagno, Italy, the world’s largest designer clothing manufacturer, is a business empire that dates back to 1836. With brands such as Hugo Boss, acquired in the early 1990s, followed by acquisitions of other luxurious brands, such as Valentino in the early 2000s and several wool and textile companies, Marzotto Group is an example of the post-WW2 financial and industrial renaissance of Italy.

While Marzotto Industrial Group is well known all over the world, relatively few are aware of the fate of the “Cyprus”, a yacht owned by Gaetano Marzotto in the 1930s, in the height of Mussolini’s reign.

According to the company history, Gaetano Marzotto modernized the company and expanded during the 1920s, allowing it to survive the Great Depression of the late 1920s, without being nationalized, as was the trend during that period. During WW2 though, the company was under Italian government control and Gaetano Marzotto managed to take it back only after the war was over.

With some clever entrepreneurship, Gaetano Marzotto managed to create an empire that still survives to this day.

But, let’s step back to the interwar period, in the mid 1930s:

In 1934 Gaetano Marzotto bought the ultra-luxurious diesel-powered yacht “Cyprus” in New York. The boat, built in 1929 in Germany, was about 75 meters long and was powered by two 384 hp diesel engines being one of the best in the world at that time.

The clouds of war were quickly gathering and with the outbreak of World War 2, the Italian regime requisitioned the yacht, converting it into a troop and cargo ship.

Mr. George Karelas, one of the leading Greek researchers said to www.ww2wrecks.com:

“One of the rare, special and interesting ships that sunk in the Greek seas during WW2 is undeniably the “Cyprus”, a luxury yacht converted into a Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) ship for the needs of the war.
What is surprising is that there are no reports of her sinking in September 1942 on the internet apart from a reference in the 1997 edition of the Uffucio Storico dalla Marina Militare (History of the Italian Navy) about the losses of all Italian ships during the Occupation of Greece by the Axis.

The fact that the loss was not even recorded in the calendar of the Maritime Administration of Patras (Marimorea) is also impressive.

I remind you that the Peloponnese and the Ionian Islands, were under Italian administration from 1941 to 1943, during the first three years of the occupation.

However, this single report was the reason I started researching this particular ship and many facts came to light after researching and with the input of renowned Greek-Canadian researcher and friend Platon Alexiades regarding the events surrounding the sinking of the ship .

With the declaration of war, the yacht was requisitioned to serve the increased needs of the Royal Italian Navy on 12 December 1941.

On 24 January 1942 she was entered in the Royal Italian Navy Register of Ships with the designator AS. 114.

On September 24, 1942, the luxurious yacht turned into an auxiliary naval vessel sailed from Patras to Pylos (Navarino).

As stated on Supermarina’s calendar, at around 10:30 in the morning, a huge explosion was heard, as the doomed vessel hit a mine.

There were 105 survivors, (85 were rescued by an unknown ship, including 18 slightly and 3 seriously injured). Another 20 managed to swim ashore in the area between Akrotiri Trypitos and Glarenza in the Peloponnese.
Another report from Marinavia (Italian Air Force) states that a Cant Z.506 seaplane of the 139^Squadriglia picked up two survivors and transported them to Patras.

In an effort to find survivors, the Italian submarine Atropo also searched the area. After the war, Gaetano Marzotto demanded compensation for the loss of his yacht from the Italian government. The legal dispute was long-lasting, but ended without any significant result.”
In the summer of 2021 I conducted field research in the area.

The reasoning was that the most likely scenario would be for Cyprus to try to move past the known minefield and towards the Peloponnese coast.

Mr. Nikos Mavrommatis contributed to the research with sonar equipment. As it turned out, the wreck was not at the northern end of the minefield.

The captain – for unknown reasons – may have attempted to pass through the area of the known minefield from a point unknown to this day.

But after collecting information from local fishermen I can now presume that the wreck of “Cyprus” is probably not near the known minefield. Perhaps she had managed to cross the minefield and hit a mine that broke loose from her mooring and drifted away, or she might have hit a mine that had probably been laid by an Allied submarine or aircraft.”

The search continues and another forgotten chapter of WW2 Wrecks in Greece is waiting to be unveiled!

Links – sources

Italian Navy Forum AIDMEN

https://www.naviearmatori.net/ita/foto-130646-4.html

https://issuu.com/rivista.militare1/docs/navi_mercantli_perdute

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzotto

https://www.pietrocristini.com/yacht_marzotto.htm

Archives of the Italian Administration of Peloponnese (Marimorea)