Rita Zovetto

History

According to the Bermuda 100 project, this ship was built in Glasgow in 1919 by Alexander Stephen & Sons as the War Gascon, one of Britain's standard wartime cargo ships, first fitted out as a tanker and later converted to dry cargo. In 1921 she was sold to Parodi & Accame of Genoa, who renamed her Rita Zovetto.

In February 1924 she was heading for Baltimore with a cargo of manganese ore. In heavy seas she went aground off the north-east end of Bermuda, just off St. David's Head and its lighthouse. Most of the ore was unloaded before she finally sank on 13 February 1924, and no lives were lost.

After the Second World War Bermudian divers - among them Teddy Tucker, Conga Fox and Bobby and Donald Canton - stripped her and the neighbouring Pelinaion of brass, copper pipe and condensers, working on and off from 1948 into the 1960s.

Diving the wreck today

A big, broken-up steamer lying down the outer face of the reef off St. David's, from about 20 ft at the top to 70 ft. The stern section and boilers are the most intact parts and the propeller is still visible, jammed into the reef; elsewhere there is a wide field of shafting, engine parts, winches and chain, plus several swim-throughs. Good for photographers, especially in spring and autumn for fish life, and often combined with the Pelinaion next door. Exposed site - calm conditions needed.