Istria · Croatia · Wreck
Cesare Rossarol
Scout cruiser mined two weeks after the war ended, at 49 m
Area photo: Tanya Dedyukhina · CC BY 3.0
An Italian scout cruiser of the Regia Marina, mined on 16 November 1918 as she left Pola for Rijeka, less than two weeks after the fighting ended. She broke in two: the stern went down almost vertically, the bow ran on for several hundred metres before sinking. Both pieces lie off Ližnjan on a bottom of about 49 metres, which makes this a technical dive rather than a recreational one.
Also known as Rossarol.
Where it is and how deep
44.8384° N, 13.9945° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The wreck sits offshore of Ližnjan, on a bottom the sources put at 48 to 50 metres, with the Italian record giving 49. There is no shallow version of this dive: the highest structure is around 40 metres, so it is planned as a decompression dive with the gas and the training that implies, and the bottom time is whatever the plan allows.
There are two separate pieces to visit and no single dive covers both. The stern sank almost straight down where the mine struck her amidships; the bow carried on under its own way for several hundred metres before going down in its turn, and the larger forward section now lies capsized to the north. She was 85 metres long overall, so each half is a substantial wreck on its own, and the sensible approach is to choose one end and work it properly.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Cesare Rossarol
- Type
- Italian scout cruiser, Regia Marina
- Length
- 85 m (279 ft)
- Built
- 1914
- Sunk
- 1918
- Cause
- Struck a mine amidships off Punta Patera while leaving Pola for Rijeka
- Lies
- Broken in two on a 49 m bottom: the larger bow section capsized and lying to the north, several hundred metres from the stern
Cesare Rossarol was a light scout of the Regia Marina, launched by Ansaldo at Sestri Ponente on 15 August 1914 and commissioned on 1 August 1915. On 16 November 1918, less than two weeks after the end of the conflict, she left Pola at 11:40 in the morning bound for Rijeka. At 12:45, shortly after rounding Punta Patera, she struck a mine amidships and broke in two. The stern went down almost immediately, dropping near vertically through the surface, while the bow section ran on for several hundred metres before it sank as well.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
Season follows Istria: The main season runs 1 May to 31 October; the sea passes 20°C from mid-June to September, and a few sites are diveable only outside the high season.
Know before you go
- The shallowest structure is around 40 metres and the sand is at 49, so every dive here carries a decompression obligation from early on. There is no recreational way to shorten it.
- The two halves lie several hundred metres apart. Decide which one you are diving before you descend rather than searching at 45 m on gas you have not budgeted for.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Cesare Rossarol wreck?+
The seabed is given as 48 to 50 metres, with the Italian record putting it at 49, and the shallowest structure is around 40. That is beyond recreational limits, so the wreck is dived as a technical decompression dive.
What happened to the Cesare Rossarol?+
She left Pola for Rijeka on the morning of 16 November 1918 and struck a mine amidships at 12:45, shortly after rounding Punta Patera. The ship broke in two: the stern sank almost at once and the bow travelled several hundred metres before going down.
Sources
- Cesare Rossarol (esploratore) — Wikipedia
- Rossarol 1, wreck — Scubago
More dive sites in Istria
Wall
A 200 m wall under sponges, bryozoans and soft corals
Cave & cavern
Limestone tunnels, the first passed one diver at a time
Cave & cavern
Shallow caves at 3 to 8 m inside Kamenjak Nature Park
Wreck
Mined in 1943, bow torn away, lying at 48 m
Wreck
A 40 m cargo wreck on the sand off the San Giovanni light
Reef
A terraced plateau reef that few boats visit
Reef
Freshwater springs in the shallows at the Lim Channel mouth
Yellow anemones and sponges on the Sv. Ivan north wall
Similar dives elsewhere
A 95 m WWII escort cut in two by a torpedo, mast top at 25 m, bow at 50 m
Broken collier at 44 m; follow the wreckage to a bow with its anchors still in place
A 99 m collier on her keel at 45 m, stern broken off, emergency propeller still visible
Upright, intact wreck with anti-aircraft guns at bow and stern, 42 to 51 m