Touted as a "seaborne laboratory" the 67-metre steam-powered Elettra was the backbone of some of the most important advances in radio transmissions to date. So how did she end up sunk, scrapped and proudly displayed in the middle of a roundabout in Italy?
When the Titanic sunk in 1912, the ship's captain sent out a distress signal via radio. Famously, only one ship answered; but that ship was responsible for saving the lives of 706 souls on board. Those survivors, according to Britain's Postmaster-General, "have been saved through one man, Mr. Marconi [...] and his marvellous invention".
That invention was radio, and the inventor was Guglielmo Marconi, a man who is widely credited with being the first pioneer of radio. Born in 1874 in Bologna, the Italian inventor had his 'eureka' moment in the field of wireless telegraph systems in 1895. In the years following, he conducted countless experiments with the aim of transforming radio into the simple, efficient and life-saving mode of communication he believed it could be.
The majority of his advances had one common factor: his 67-metre superyacht Elettra. To say Marconi was fond of his yacht would be an understatement. "Without Elettra it would have been impossible to carry out my experiments […] I would not have been able to continue and develop my research […] With my seaborne laboratory – unique in the world – I have been able to realise my dreams. This yacht has not only made me independent but also freed me from distractions and the curiosity of others." The yacht earned the title 'La nave dei miracoli'; 'the ship of miracles'.
Elettra was born in 1904 at Edinburgh-based shipyard Ramage and Ferguson Ltd of Leith for an Austrian nobleman. She was christened Rovenska, after a region in Croatia that her owner was terribly fond of (ironically, she would later meet her fate in Croatian waters). She changed hands a couple of times, but at the outbreak of the war in 1914 the navy commandeered her. When peace befell Europe and she no longer served a military purpose, she fell on the auction block. It was here that Guglielmo Marconi picked her up for the sum of around £21,000 (about £3 million in today’s money).
Marconi had grand plans for the yacht and wasted no time putting them in place. He took her straight to the Baglietto yard in La Spezia, where he had her masts heightened to rig up various wireless aerials, and her layout was tweaked so that Marconi’s private cabin would be directly connected to the laboratory. He began carrying out extensive experiments, both for entertainment and research purposes.
On a warm early spring evening in 1920, guests on board his yacht took to the saloon to dance to a live music performance that was broadcast to them from around 400 miles away, in London’s Savoy Hotel. Later, he streamed the voice of a famous soprano onto the yacht from 2,000 miles away. In 1922, he conducted what might be the first-ever silent disco while cruising off New York, with his guests dancing the foxtrot on deck while hooked up to personal handheld radios.
But, the majority of his experiments were more scientific. In 1924 he established two-way communication between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and later repeated the same success in the Middle East and Australia. Direction-finding came next, with Marconi using a length of wire rigged up to his yacht to receive signals from 100 miles away. Later, Marconi even managed to use radio to switch on a light display in Sydney, all the way from his yacht in Genoa.
Marconi's work in Italy earned him national fame, with the Pope applauding him, a noble title bestowed on him and one of the bays where he conducted his experiments later named after him.
Marconi was so enamoured with his yacht that he went on to name his daughter from his second marriage after it. Accounts differ, but the name Elettra was thought to come from the brave heroine from Greek mythology. A fine name, but if Marconi had his way, the yacht would have been called "Scintilla", meaning spark. But, as Marconi and his inventions propelled him onto the international stage, it was decided that Scintilla would be too hard for delicate American pronunciations, and they landed on Elettra instead.
The yacht went on several epic circumnavigations of the world, undertaking experiments in Beirut, the United States and Cape Verde. She had a number of high-profile guests, ranging from respectable royals and esteemed poets to less-reputable characters such as Italian dictator Mussolini.
The yacht’s varied guest list should come as no surprise to those who know Marconi’s story. Marconi joined the National Fascist Party in 1923 and a few years later was appointed President of the Royal Academy of Italy by Mussolini himself. A few years later, aged 53, he married a woman 26 years his junior who gave birth to the aforementioned Elettra. For reasons known unknown, Marconi left his entire fortune to his second wife and their only child, and nothing to the three children of his first marriage.
Marconi died in 1937 at the age of 63 in Rome. The yacht Elettra was initially acquired by the Italian Ministry of Communications, but she moved from Rome to Trieste at the outbreak of the war and was requisitioned by the Germans. From there, she underwent the transformation from laboratory to lethal machine; she was armed with five hefty machine guns mounted in twin turrets and put into service in 1943.
On a dreary day in late January 1944, she arrived in what is now Croatian waters to patrol the coast. The following morning, she was spotted and attacked by fighter-bombers. As she began to list in shallow water, her captain decided the best course of action would be to run her aground before she sank.
The wrecked vessel became property of then-Yugoslavia, but it was not until 1962 that the yacht was refloated and brought back to Trieste for restoration. Sadly, the restoration work stalled and the rusted hull of Elettra remained in the bay for a full five years before she was finally saved. With restoration now impossible, it was decided that she’d be sliced up and have her parts distributed across various locations in Italy.
The largest segment is the prow, and it currently sits in the middle of a roundabout at a science park in Trieste. Some might call it a sorry fate for a yacht that was once at the forefront of one of the most important advances in communication technology. For others though, it's a symbol of one of Italy's most important contributions to science – and the rich maritime heritage that made it possible.