On the afternoon of April 24, 1917 the Italian sailboat Bien Aimé Prof. Luigi was on a route between the UK and Genova, Italy.
As the boat sailed past Sagres the crew was unaware that since 06.30 a German imperial submarine, the U-35 commanded by Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière was shadowing the Bien Aimé Prof. Luigi, a sailboat built to carry cargo, built in 1907.
At this stage in his naval career the U-boat commander already had sunk the Nordsøen, Torvore and Vilhelm Krag and has the Bien Aimé Prof. Luigi in his sights. He added the Bien Aimé Prof. Luigi to his growing list of kills.
The remains of a boat matching the description of the missing Italian sailboat has been found on the ocean floor but it is not yet possible to ascertain whether this is indeed the sunken Italian vessel.
The logbook of the submarine U-35 indicated that the final resting place of the Bien Aimé Prof. Luigi is south of Sagres in an area of great depth.
Two researchers from the Naval Research Centre of the Portuguese Navy (CINAV) tried to locate this wreck on May 28 this year reaching survey depths of more than 650 meters using a remote vehicle controlled on board the Gago Coutinho which was engaged in continental shelf research.
Using multibeam echo sounders and the remote underwater vehicle Luso, the team found the remaions of a wooden hull but it is impossible yet to confirm that this is the missing Italian sailboat. More research is needed.
The municipality of Vila do Bispo and the company Subnauta have teamed up to push for answers and to sponsor further investigations.
The submarine Project U-35 is a research mission lasting until September 7 taking place off Sagres to confirm that the wreckage already located is indeed that of the Italian sailboat sunk in 1917.
The initiative will be carried out by a team from the Naval Research Centre of the Portuguese Navy led by the bold Commander Augusto Salgado who has teamed up with the historian Jorge Russo.
To celebrate this great adventure a protocol will be signed at the town hall between Vila do Bispo council and the Portuguese Naval School on September 3, followed by a lecture from the two researchers about the project and the wreck lying on the ocean floor off Sagres.
The Council of Vila do Bispo is supporting this great adventure with a €15,000 donation towards costs. Several hotels in the Sagres area have helped out by providing food and accommodation to the diving and research teams before they set out again for the final search.
This research is significant and has been the subject of an article in the August edition of the Portuguese National Geographic.
The U-boat Kapitänleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière was to become the most successful U-boat skipper of all time, a record which still stands.
He is famous for scrupulous adherence to prize rules, often allowing crews of enemy merchant ships to board their lifeboats and giving them directions to the nearest port before sinking their ships.
During his war time career, he sank 194 ships totalling 454,000 tons, always strictly according to prize rules often with his U-boat's 88mm deck gun.
His patrol performance was outstanding: in April/May 1916 he sank 23 ships, totaling 68,000 tons on a five week patrol and in July/August 1916 in four weeks he sank 54 ships, totaling 91,150 tons using only 4 torpedoes (one miss).
Ironically, he died in an aircraft accident at Le Bourget airport near Paris, France in 1941.
