Wrecks of the Adriatic Sea on your mobile phone screen

„Wrecks of the Adriatic Sea” is the name of the new application for iPhone and iPad which reveals the Adriatic underwater world, ie the shipswrecks that it holds. The application is simple and has high quality contents with beautiful photographs and illustrations of 19 shipwrecks. By clicking on a wreck, you get all the information about it: the name, the type and purpose of the ship, the cause of the wreck and the depth at which it is located today. Apart from basic navigation, all the wrecks can be reached by a map. The application is based on the book „Secrets of the Adriatic”, a kind of a diving guide through specific shipwrecks along the Adriatic Sea, which hides a real underwater museum of shipping and aviation accidents.

Among the most attractive wreck is the well preserved «Szent Istvana», a war ship of the Austo-Hungarian navy, 152 m in length, which was sunk by Italian torpedo boats in June of 1918, near the island Premuda close to Susak. This is the largest wreck in the Adriatic, but because it is a protected monument of culture it is not available for tourist diving trips. Most of the objects recovered from the wreck can be seen in the history museum of Istria in Pula.

On the other hand, divers can reach the wreck of the military ship „Re d'Italia”, sunk in the battle near Vis in 1866. A legend that it was carrying large amounts of gold is connected to this wreck. During official investigations no gold was ever found, but it is not known whether it had already been taken from the ship beforehand and whether it had made somebody very rich.

The sea around Vis is full of wrecks. There are 20 federal airplanes from the Second World War lying there.

The most visited wreck of the Adriatic is the Austro-Hungarian passenger steam boat „Baron Gautsch”, which is 80 m long. It came across a mine in 1914 and sunk to a depth of 40 m between the islands Sveti Ivan and Brijuni, six miles from Rovinj. Durning the summer season, this wreck which is also a protected monument of culture is visited by more than 3000 people. Another wreck that divers also find very interesting is the merchant ship `Vis`, which sank in 1946 near the entry to the Plomin bay when it hit a mine.

Also a very popular tourist attraction is the four motor bomber, „the flying fortress” B-17. The airoplane sank to a depth of 70 m in 1944 near Vis. All ten crew members survived the crash but the airoplane still holds all their equipment such as helmets, breathing masks, instruments, weapons, personal documents and photo equipment that they left behind.

Among the most attractive wreck is the 80 m „Stella Polare” near cape Mašnjak in Istria at a depth of 65 m. It sank in 1944, when it hit a mine. This is the best preserved war ship ever found in the Adriatic.


Source: CNTB