Capua Wreck

About this dive site

Explore the water around Sicily

Capua was a small cargo ship, with a tonnage of 400 tons, a length of 45 meters. and a width of less than 8 meters.The ship was built at the beginning of the past century by the shipyard Wood Skinner & Co. of Newcastle in the UK, and for cases of life during the Second World War was used against England, not as a combat unit but as a support. It sank during a mission, on April 27th 1943,while carrying arms for the Italian troops in Africa from Trapani to Tripoli.Due to a fire on board there was a violent explosion. All crew, including Commander, survived but the ship sank about ten hours later, on a sandy bottom at about 38 metersdepth, in front of the bay "Mazzo di Sciacca" currently within the reserve-oriented Zingaro. These are the facts, regards the origin of fire there is no clear evidence, some rumors want the fire caused by the crew tired from the long conflict, according to other evidence it seems that the fire was caused anyway by the crew but due to the sighting of a British submarine. What happened, as in many cases, we will never know, but this only adds a touch of mystery to the charm of the dive on the wreck of Capua.