The wreck “Cavour” is a sunken ship that is located off Calafat, less than 5 miles from the port of l’Ametlla de Mar. It is an Italian ocean liner of more than 100 meters in length by 20 meters in width that sank on December 11, 1917. It is located on a muddy sand bottom at a depth of 52 meters with the hull split in two. Due to its height, the roof is 42 meters high.
The “Cavour” had left Genoa two days earlier bound for Buenos Aires with 300 people on board, all of whom were rescued. That night, in the middle of the First World War, he had a violent collision with the “Cabrera”, one of the surveillance ships that accompanied him to protect him from the attack of German submarines. Darkness and strong winds caused the impact.
His connection with the Titanic
The Cavour was formerly called Florida. On one of his trips off the coast of New York, he was involved in an accident with a large ocean liner called the Republic. The Republic sank, and the Cavour, under the name of Florida, was badly damaged. In that sinking, telegraphy was used for the first time to manage the evacuation of the Republic and only three people died. The rest were saved when many other boats arrived in the area to help passengers and crew.
The Republic belonged to the White Star Line company. The story goes that after the loss of their most important ship, the company told the crew that they were building the largest ocean liner in history, the Titanic, and as a reward for such an important rescue, they would become part of the crew of the Titanic.
