DIVERS FIND SIX SHIPS SUNKEN IN CRO. WATERS DURING WORLD WARS 1,2

NOVALJA, Aug 15 (Hina) - After three days of looking for where two corvettes were sunken in a canal between the islands of Pag and Losinj in the northern Adriatic Sea during World War Two, Italian divers on Monday evening established their location, as well as that of another four ships.#L# Eleven divers of the Trieste-based Wreck Diving Society began researches on August 6, with permission and under the control of Croatia's Ministry of Culture and the Cultural Heritage Protection Management. On Saturday evening, they established the location of six ships, all sunken 70-80 metres below the surface of the sea. Two ships were photographed in detail, Austro-Hungarian freighter Albanien, sunken in 1916, and Austrian cargo and passenger ship Euterpe, which was transporting more than 1,000 Austrian soldiers when the Italians torpedoed it in 1918, killing 550. Italy's ship Audace and Great Britain's destroyer Adelnhan have been located but not photographed due to difficulties posed by a cloud of ooze, raised from the bottom by trawlers, which is floating 60-80m below the surface of the sea. During the day, the Italian divers will attempt to photograph two Italian corvettes which were located yesterday. These were put under the German flag after Italy's capitulation in 1943. British destroyers sunk them in a 1 November 1944 naval battle. Both are 82m under the surface of the sea. The Italian divers are using state-of-the-art equipment for technical diving, including a portable pressure chamber in case of emergencies. They are staying in the Varsan bay until August 22. A press conference will be held on Wednesday, to be attended by Assistant Culture Minister Miljenko Domjan, focusing on the details of the action and the significance of the discovery. (hina) ha