FOUND! Théophile Gautier: A French ocean liner at the seabed of the Aegean

By Pierre Kosmidis The Aegean seabed is a silent witness of many dramatic events during the Second World War. The wreckdiving.gr research team located and positively identified the wreck of the French ocean liner Théophile Gautier, at a depth of 112 meters below sea level. “Following information received from local fishermen, and thorough research in the historical archives, and despite […]

Gradisca: The “Odyssey” of the Italian hospital ship in Greece during WW2

By Pierre Kosmidis The Hospital Ship “Gradisca” at the Port of Patras, Greece GRADISCA and AQUILEA: Two large hospital ships operating on the Mediterranean under Italian and German flag from 1939-45 In 1935, Italy bought two pre-World-War-I steamships built in England and the Netherlands and originally used as passenger ships – the GRADISCA (13,879 G.R.T.) […]

Submarine HMS P311, sunk in January 1943: “Only the forgotten are truly dead”

By Pierre Kosmidis Britain’s Royal Navy says it is currently looking into claims by Massimo Domenico Bondone that he located the long-lost wreck of the HMS P311 submarine, which sunk off Sardinia in January 1943. Diver Massimo Domenico Bondone found the P311 at a depth of 80 meters off the isle of Tavolara, with logistics assistance by Orso Diving […]

FOUND! The lost Panzer Division and the wreck of “Marburg” full of German tanks and guns

By Pierre Kosmidis The photo of the Italian Archivio Centrale Dello Stato files, reason for the investigation of the ship’s identity – Photo Credit: LUCE/George Karelas Research: George Karelas and Gerasimos Sotiropoulos Photos: As credited Text: Pierre Kosmidis By  May 21st, 1941 the Germans had concluded the invasion of mainland Greece, codenamed “Operation Marita” and […]

The unknown story of the Italian submarine “Axum”, lost in Greece, 29 December 1943

By Pierre Kosmidis The Royal Italian Navy Submarine “Axum”, (Regio sommergibile “Axum”), named after the ancient city in Ethiopia, was commissioned on 2 December 1936 and had a quite successful career during WW2, including many patrols and the torpedo attack against Allied shipping on August 12 1942, which resulted in the sinking of one ship and damaging of […]

Graf Zeppelin: Diving at the unique WW2 German aircraft carrier (photos and videos)

By Pierre Kosmidis This story is dedicated to the memory of dear friend Dimitris “Dima” Stavrakakis 1966-2016  Underwater photos by Tomasz “Tomek” Stachura   Graf Zeppelin (Flugzeugträger A, Aircraft Carrier A) was the only aircraft carrier launched by Germany during World War II and represented part of the Kriegsmarine’s attempt to create a well-balanced oceangoing fleet, […]

FOUND! The WW2 Greek submarine Y1 “Katsonis”, sunk on September 14, 1943

By Pierre Kosmidis The wreck of the Greek WW2 submarine Y1 “Katsonis” has been located according to the Hellenic Navy, close to Skiathos Island, at a depth of over 250 metres. MAY 10, 2018 UPDATE: According to the Hellenic Navy the exact depth of the wreck is 253 metres and the ill-fated sub has been positively identified […]

Scapa Flow, the largest shipwreck graveyard in Europe

By Pierre Kosmidis Divers from around the world visit Scapa Flow to explore the WW1 wrecks and to discover European history resting on the seabed of Scotland. Armistice and internment of the German fleet Scapa Flow is a natural bay, sheltered from the wind, located in the Orkney Islands. This port was used as naval base for the Royal […]