ITN24 CAE - Visit to the Maritime Museum

The students are guided in the discovery of the maritime tradition of the town with explanations of guides. They understood how the town was alive with the shipyards and understood  the local ship makers’s life. The museum is located in the former waiting room of the Torre del Greco train station, part of the city's important industrial area. Founded in 2008 by the Italian Naval League, it tells the maritime history of the local community. Torre del Greco has long been, and remains, the world leader in coral craftsmanship.

The Corallina was a boat used by Torrese sailors in the 19th and 20th centuries for coral fishing. It had a unique structure, and crews of 6 to 10 men worked in harsh conditions, living on deck. The fishing method involved dragging a heavy wooden cross along the seabed, which often damaged coral reefs. A video was shown to our students made by the national TV to know how it worked.

The guide explained that navigating without modern instruments, sailors relied on secret, hand-drawn maps. The museum displays tools, maps, and nautical books from this era. Sponge fishing occurred alongside coral fishing and was reserved for the wealthy elite, who used sponges for personal hygiene.It was less profitable than coral fishing and employed a different fishing method using the Spugnara boat.

As coral fishing declined, sailors shifted to working on trade and transport ships. Maritime work became the main source of income in Torre del Greco. employing 80-90% of the population and boosting local wealth. The museum displays documents, personal items, and tools from this maritime era. It was the occasion to see highlights include a telegraphwith Morse key for long-distance communication. a machine telegraph used to control ship speed and direction, and a heliographic mirror for sun-reflected signals.

Instruments for orientation include an astrolabe for star navigation, a sextant for measuring angles to the horizon, and an early liquid compass for precise direction. The final moment was to explain that Giovanni Ajmone Cat was the first Italianto sail to Antarctica in 1969. For this challenge, he commissioned the construction of the boat to the shipbuilder Antonio Palomba in his shipyard in Torre del Greco: a 16 metres two masted lateen rigged vessel, with a wooden hull. There were very few technological devices on board: a sextant, a compass and a radio.

The construction of ships have been very important for this community and it has had a huge importance along the times. Captain Giovanni Ajmone Cat, an explorer, ordered his vessel from the shipyard of Torre del Greco. He successfully reached Antarctica. All this information enriched our knowledge.