Rewriting History: Albanian Coastal Exploration February 13, 2011

July of 2007 began the first large-scale coastal survey of Albania. The R/V Hercules began the survey at Albania’s southern border with Greece with the goal of completing the entire coast over several successive seasons. During four successive seasons a number of discoveries were made, including the remains of the Bow of HMS Volage, a British destroyer that struck a mine off the Albanian port of Sarande on October 22, 1946. The incident brought Communist Albania and Great Britain into diplomatic conflict and it was the first major issue to be debated by the Great Powers at the Security Council after the WWII.

HMS Volage struck a mine on October 22, 1946 while assisting another British destroyer, HMS Saumarez, which had itself struck a mine. While neither ship sank, 44 lives were lost and another 42 British seamen were injured. This tragic episode was one of the first naval incidents of the Cold War.

A lengthy legal argument before the International Court of Justice at The Hague ultimately led to a ruling in favor of Britain. Albania disputed the findings, and the two nations severed diplomatic relations for nearly 50 years.

The wreckage is that of a section of an explosion-damaged steel vessel and lies in proximity to the Albanian shore near the port of Sarande clearly inside the Albanian territorial waters. This discovery has now raised many questions and has put to the test the Verdict of the International Court of Hague. Was Great Britain not telling the truth to the International Court of Hague? Was the British squadron on an innocent passage at it claimed or it was part of a military operations?

Join Auron Tare as he takes us through archival material and rare footage of this unsolved mystery which is one of the great cases where underwater archaeology is helping to rewrite history.

Auron Tare is one of the founders of Butrint National Park, a World Heritage Site of UNESCO and the First Director of the World Heritage Site of Butrint.