On May 6, 1869, a three-masted cargo and passenger ship with a steam engine "General Abbatucci" left its home port of Marseille on a routine voyage on the route Marseille Civatavcchia (Italy). It made this flight monthly, and therefore this trip did not cause any excitement. True, there was a valuable cargo on board the sailing ship - expensive gifts from the French church and state for the Pope. The cargo was accompanied by the men of the quartermaster of the city of Marseille and a whole detachment of the papal guards, but in Civatavecchia "General Abbatucci" did not land.
TRAGEDY AT THE SEA
On May 7, 1869, the Italian authorities reported the loss of the sailing ship General Abbatucci to Marseille. All 16 soldiers of the Marseilles quartermaster and 15 of the Pope's guards fell through the ground. And the valuable cargo also disappeared without a trace. But a few hours later the world learned that the 282-ton sailing ship "General Abbatucci" was tragically lost off the coast of Italy.
Early on the morning of May 7, the Norwegian 500-ton tug Edward Hvidt. The Norwegian cargo ship turned out to be so powerful, heavier than the papal envoy that, having made several through holes in the starboard side of the General Abbatucci, it did not even notice its own damage and continued its sea voyage in an unknown direction, leaving the papal gifts to fend for themselves.
And "General Abbatucci" fought in vain for his life for more than two hours, then, letting out his last black breath, he sank, cursing the Protestants from Norway. No one expected General Abbatucci to disappear forever on this campaign. After all, this ship had an impeccable reputation as a reliable sailing ship, the services of which were used by very important persons from the governments of Italy, France and the ministers of the Vatican. And on this voyage on the steamer were rich French merchants, heading to the trade fair in Rome. Their fate turned out to be sad.
The next day, newspapers across Europe described the main details of the disaster in the most gruesome detail. The London Times, for example, painted: “The captain and about fifty other passengers escaped and were brought to Levorno almost naked. The tragedy happened in the early morning, when most of the passengers were resting in their cabins. Ordinary sailors were killed almost in full. They tried to fulfill their official duty to the end. And the members of the papal guard, who were entrusted with the protection of gifts for the pope, did not even try to save the jewelry. Also killed were the French guards of the Marseilles commandant, whom the French government entrusted with the transportation of several million francs - money to pay the salaries of the French army in Italy.
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PRESENTS FOR DAD
While the captain and sailors of the "General Abbatucci" fought to save people and the ship, they were noticed from the Italian ship "Embla", which saved several people, and then the same ship escorted the Norwegian barge "Edward Hvidt" to the coast of Italy.
After a lengthy trial, the commission pleaded guilty to the captain of the ship General Aobatucci, who neglected the most basic security measures. He was obliged to let the larger and heavier Norwegian ship "Edward Hvidt" pass, but for some reason he did not. And the captain of the Norwegian heavyweight "Edward Hvidt" was roughly punished for not providing assistance to passengers of a French ship dying in the water.
Almost immediately, the search for papal treasures began, which were carried out by private companies and voluntary rescue teams. It is in this region of the Tyrrhenian Sea that there are almost hundreds of dead ships, and it is very difficult to find one desired object among them. Only 127 years later, in 1996, it became possible to lift gold from the General Abbatucci.
The search and recovery of the treasures was taken up by Blue Water Ltd. The search for "General Abbatucci" alone lasted 32 days. Experts have combed an area of 1,000 square miles! And this is in bad stormy weather. During the search, about a hundred more sunken ships and vessels of various sizes and eras were found. Only on May 19, 1996, the expedition found the wreck of the lost ship. The seabed was inspected by a remote-controlled self-propelled submarine, on which an autonomous deep-sea film camera was installed with a black and white image. She made it possible for the search engines to observe the searches from their base vessel.
The reality turned out to be grim. The metal hull of the ship was rusted through and through. A steam boiler towered lonely over the wreck of a rotted ship, as if a dumb ghost witnessed a tragedy. The beams of the ship resembled a skeleton.
The first to rise to the surface, thanks to a smart robot with controlled claws, the binnacle (box for the ship's compass) and the original compass itself, marked "General Abbatucci", which once again confirmed the correctness of the search vector. Then there were porcelain items on board. Alas, this was not the famous Chinese porcelain, but products - contemporaries of the disaster, the product of the firm Valery, Freres & Fils. The search for the treasures was hampered by the great depth at which the unfortunate General Abbatucci found himself - 2,500 meters. Only machines and robots can dive this deep.
It was the robot who found the golden gifts for Pius IX. His fellow priests did not regret gold and precious stones on the anniversary of the Pope. A whole scattering of gold coins, gold watches, gold chains, rings and rings, earrings with diamonds and rubies, openwork bracelets made of platinum and other precious metals, brooches with gems and other jewelry, without which any priest can read prayers and sermons it would be inconvenient. French and Italian restorers spent several years completely rebuilding the collection for Pius IX, which he never received.
And who got all this beauty? In the early 2000s, at the English international auction "Christie", the treasures of Pius IX were very expensive. They were bought by private individuals, as well as state museums around the world, including the Louvre and the British National Museum.