An upcoming book by Greek diver Giorgos Karelas and recent underwater footage shed light on the historical war wreckages still lying on the sea bottom off the entrance of the Channel of Missolonghi in Greece.
The area is known to World War II researchers for the deadly sinking of the British Landing Craft Tanks of the Royal Navy LCT Nο 328 and HMS Empire Dace in 1944. Both their wreckages were removed in the 1950s, however diver Stefanos Kaltsoulas recently spotted the remains of four British army vehicles and one naval mine from the ship, AMNA reports.
Remains of a third wreckage, the hospital ship Esperos, were captured on footage by Giorgos Karelas and Lambros Charelos. The Greek Navy ship was carrying injured soldiers returning from the war front when it was bombarded by German aircraft as it sailed off the town of Missolonghi on April 21, 1941.
Haunting stories of WWII shipwrecks off Missolonghi, Greece
Details of the discoveries of the three divers from their dives at the wreckage area and findings from their historical research are all included in Giorgos Karelas’ book, which will publish soon.
These include lurid narratives and descriptions of the tragic events.
HMS Empire Dace and LCT Nο 328 sank within four days from each other, at the end of World War II, hit by naval mines in the Channel of Missolonghi. 78 crew and soldiers vanished in the first tragedy on December 1, 1944, and 15 in the second, on December 5, including 13 Indians.
A local man, Chrisos Dedes, who was a child at the time of the two naval accidents, spoke of the rescue efforts he witnessed in the community, but also recounts some of his fellow townsmen brutally mutilating the dead bodies of the Indian soldiers to loot their gold jewellery.
The tragic shipwreck of LCT 328, was eventually removed from the sea bottom in the 1950s, repaired and repurposed as a commercial ferry boat on the route that links the town of Rio on the Peloponnese to Antirrio on mainland Greece.
She carried passengers across the Gulf of Corinth for many years under her new name Melina.
