Nemi Ships - Recovery

Recovery

Local fishermen had always been aware of the existence of the wrecks, and had explored them and removed small artifacts, often using grappling hooks to pull up pieces, which they sold to tourists. In 1446, Cardinal Prospero Colonna and Leon Battista Alberti followed up on the stories regarding the remains and discovered them lying at a depth of 18.3 meters (60 ft), which was too deep for effective salvage. They caused significant damage to the ships by using ropes with hooks to tear planks from them. Alberti learned little more than the type of wood and that it was covered in lead sheathing. In 1535, Francesco De Marchi dove on the wreck using a diving bell. His finds included bricks, marble paving stones, bronze, copper, lead artefacts and a great number of timber beams. He had all of the wood made into items such as walking sticks and boxes. De Marchi apparently sold everything he collected to the nobility and foreign visitors who visited the site to watch his work. From material recovered he added the knowledge that mortise and tenon joints had been used in their construction. Despite the successful salvage of entire structures and parts, there was no academic interest in the ships so no further research was performed and the objects recovered were lost and their fate remains unknown.

By 1827, interest had revived and it had become a widespread belief that earlier material recovered had either been part of a temple to Diana or was from the villa of Caesar cited by Suetonius. Annesio Fusconi built a floating platform from which to raise the wrecks however, several of his cables broke so he called a halt until he could find stronger cables. When he returned, he found that the locals had dismantled his platform to make wine barrels leading to him abandoning the project.

In 1895, with the support of the Ministry of Education, Eliseo Borghi began a systematic study of the wreck site and discovered the site contained two wrecks instead of the one expected. Among the material Borghi recovered was the bronze tiller head of one of the rudders and many bronze heads of wild animals. Borghi placed all of his finds in his own museum and offered to sell the collection to the Government. The timbers he recovered were discarded and lost while no contextual referencing was documented for any of his finds. Felice Barnabei, director general of the Dept of Antiquity and Fine Art claimed all of the artefacts for the National Museum and submitted a report requesting the recovery cease due to the "devastation of the two wrecks." An engineer from the Italian Navy surveyed the site to determine the feasibility of recovering the two ships intact and concluded that the only viable way was to partially drain the lake.

In 1927, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered Guido Ucelli to drain the lake and recover the ships. With the help of the navy, army, industry, and private individuals, an ancient Roman underground water conduit linking the lake to farms outside the crater was reactivated. After connecting the conduit to a floating pumping platform, on October 20, 1928, the lake level began dropping. By March 28, 1929, the water level had dropped 5 meters (16 ft), and the first ship (prima nave) broke the surface. By June 10, 1931, the prima nave had been recovered and the second ship (seconda nave) was exposed. By this time the water level had dropped more than 20 meters (66 ft) with over 40 million cubic meters of water removed. As a result of the weight reduction, on August 21, 1931, 500,000 cubic meters of mud erupted from the underlying strata causing 30 hectares (74 acres) of the lake floor to subside. Work ceased and, while the risks of continuing the project were debated, the lake began refilling. As the seconda nave had already partially dried out the submersion caused considerable damage. On November 10, 1931, the Minister of Public Works ordered the project and all research abandoned.

On February 19, 1932, the Navy Ministry, which had been a partner in the recovery, petitioned the Prime Minister to resume the project. Joining with the Ministry of Education they received permission to take over responsibility and pumping to drain the lake recommenced on March 28. Around this time a small boat was found, about ten metres long with a pointed bow and a square stern. It had been loaded with stones in order to sink it. It is believed to be contemporaneous with the ships. Due to technical problems the seconda nave could not be recovered until October 1932. A purpose built museum constructed over both ships was inaugurated in January 1936.