The Po ship in the water of Albania

For this number, writing of Paesaggiritrovati.it has gone up to the Albanian coast, in water depths which hosts over half a century now, a piece of history of our country. We are, precisely, in the bay of Valona, set between Sasena island Cape Linguetta, in the place where the Italian Po ship was found, sunk back on March 14, 1941 by an English torpedo.
 

We speak about Italian hospital ship of World War II, a so-called white ships that hospitals set up as real street, had arduous mission to recover and repatriate Italian soldiers wounded. Well, after more than fifty years of neglect, the Po Ship was recovered almost intact structure and navigation, at a depth of between 30 and 50 meters below sea level, off a very special island is the largest in Albania.

The old boat, in fact, is near the island of Saseno, Albanian and Italian military base today. This strip of land is distinguished by its diamond shape and being now deserted, partly because of its steep coasts almost entirely covered by Mediterranean scrub. Geologically, then, the island is an extension of Acrocerauni Mountains and it consists of sandy marl and limestone coarse emerging from the sea.

And it is the sea, then, that we returned a fragment of the past that has caused so much fuss at the time. At the time of British attack to ship Po, in fact, a very strong displeasure took the Italians. Traveling in the boat, along with medical personnel and the Red Cross, Edda Ciano Mussolini, the Duce's daughter, nurse, who miraculously managed to remain intact, while Secchi Wanda, Ennia Tramontani and Maria Federici, Red Cross also, tragically lost their lives.

Today, in memory of three brave women is a Gold Medal for Military Valor, as evidence of great strength. In memory instead of a conflict involving the whole world, is the miraculous discovery of the Italian ship Po. For not forget.

R. C.