Recovery of the Second Ship

The new pumping platform came into service on 13 April 1930 but the work at this point revolved around freeing the "prima nave" from the mud and preparing it for moving by fitting a large cradle around it which could then slide on four lines of rails. This work continued up to and was completed on the 5 October at which point the pumping operation was stopped. The following day the process of moving the hull was started with complete success. The level of the lake by this time had been lowered by over 15 metres and now with the completion of the "recovery" phase of the first ship, the crucial question arose about what to do with regard to the second ship.
Between the lapping of the waves the outline of the hull was already visible for about 20 metres and revealed aspects of special interest.
Protruding from the sides of the hull were long beams all of the same length. The experts from the Navy that were following this exceptional research with great passion speculated about the possibility of this being a fortunate find which might solve the controversial question about the arrangement of oars in Roman ships.

Despite the great expectations the order to restart the pumps didn't come and there was growing unease about the fate of the second ship. The hopes of those who wouldn't hear of any abandonment of the project centred around the figure of Corrado Ricci, one of the sponsors, who made a direct appeal to the minister of Public Works. On the 13 October 1930 at the Institute of Archaeology and History of Art, the commission examined and re-examined the various elements and arguments for and against a continuance of the project. These included the importance of the results already obtained, the possibility of learning new aspects about naval architecture, the offer on the part of the industrialists to provide new equipment free of charge and to cover the energy costs. All this done, there was a unanimous decision to continue the draining of the lake at least as far as being able to make an examination and study of the wreck.
There was a further meeting at the lakeside on the 15 October to decide upon aspects necessary to the temporary care of the first hull, now on dry land. On this occasion senator Ricci lauded the project and its great historic and archaeological value. Not all shared his great enthusiasm as many had expected treasure rather than items of scientific value and they did not understand the significance of the undertaking. The non comprehension existed at all levels but finally the go-ahead came from the Council of Ministers.
The work restarted with something of the same fervour of the early days and even those who had been nurturing doubts and hesitation were reanimated. The water level gauge began, once again, indicating the falling water level and slowly the hull emerged into the light of day. The hull of the second ship was remarkably well preserved due to the build up of sediment over parts of it and in other areas due to landslips having entombed it, albeit underwater. Gradually the ground dried out and reached a new equilibrium though sometimes, as earlier on 20 December 1930, there were sudden movements of large quantities of mud changing the level around the hull.
In the meantime the civil engineer had finished the work of bringing the "prima nave" ashore which in Feb 1993 was still under the temporary protection of a hangar erected by the Air Force. In March new machinery was deployed to give greater speed to the draining operation and then several months passed until 10 June 1931 when the second ship emerged completely from the waters.
As Malfatti had already seen in his research of 1895, the interior of the ship seemed completely empty and unadorned.
In the delicate work of freeing the hull from the surrunding mud a bronze was found at the support for one of the rudders. This bronze, corresponding to the one removed by Borghi was a beam end fixture decorated with an outstreched hand. Amongst the other material found around the ship: a two headed guardrail stanchion similar to the one retrieved on 30 Feb 1930, many tiles of gilded copper and great columns testifying to the existence of imposing superstructures on the vessel. Confimation of the exceptional technical value of the ship now created a subsequent problem of its definitive removal from the lake and conservation.

Up to this point over 40 million cubic metres of water had been discharged, all of it going through the restored emissario or subterranean conduit purpose built by the Romans. Nothing remained now but to drop the level of the lake another two or three metres to then be able to remove the hull from its resting place but the long odyssey of the ship was not over yet.
On 22 August 1931 the largest upheaval of the ancient lake bottom took place. Thirty hectares of land underwent covulsions while a huge quantity of semifluid material calculated at over half a million cubic metres, issued from the underlying strata and slid into the lake. This caused the lake level to rise from -20.97m to -20.30m Fortunately there was no damage this time either but the frightening event had the effect of causing the order to suspend operations to be given.

It was undoubtedly the most drammatic moment of the whole undertaking: all the contoversies resurfaced and for months and months the discussion went on as if not seeing and exploring the ancient relic was enough to overcome doubts. Indeed once again opponents of the scheme prevailed and on 10 November 1931 the Minister of Public Works communicated the decision of the head of government for the definitive end to draining operations. The order was thus given to dismantle the machinery and abandon further research.
The commission desperately tried every means to avoid disaster. It tried to keep alive hope of a recommencement of the work but never directly contacting the government. There was talk of cutting the hull into sections to facilitate its removal and even to means of floating it so that it could be recovered at a future date. This last option however, could not stand up to argument as it was not practical. In the meantime the waters were creeping back up to reclaim their lost prey and now surrounded the hull, giving it the appearance of floating and moving with the waves.

The author at this point in the proceedings went to visit the lakeside site and recounts it in somewhat poetic terms - it is reproduced here to give something of a feel for the emotions that the great project could provoke and the magical moments that it created. - trans.

"We go down to the lake to check the damage caused by the rising waters that now have innundated the excavation site. The narrow path takes us out of the woods to the deserted lakeside and in the solemn silence, broken only by the slight lapping of waves against the hull, we behold an unforgettable vision, myth and reality become one.
The Roman majesty of the ship dominates the lake that appears, as perhaps it once was, to be the centre of the sacrarium: nothing has changed: among the shadows of the dark trees glows the Golden Bough of legend; on the moving luminescence of the Mirror of Diana the ship travels the course of centuries. In the divine solitude that the lake has jealously preserved, we are confronted, not by a cold and immobile monument no matter how great, but by a magical survivor of the past, a reality both concrete and tangible.
We watch, moved, as our eyes take in the most live picture of classical antiquity ever presented to man. Under this sky, in this light of pagan beauty, in the splendour of all that was Rome, on this stately ship, moved by hundreds and hundreds of oars, Caligula set sail towards the mysterious temple with the gilded roof.
In this suspension of time, it is not the echo of an epic song or harmonious prayers that come to us but a complete reality herald of events to come, the reality itself rises again from the Divine Womb of the Lake. (my emphasis: reference to 'Elegie romane: Sul lago di Nemi' by D'Annunzio -trans.)
The immensity of the ship, the harmony of its perfect lines don't allow the eye to rest on the depredations of time and man: it isn't necessary for the imagination to add to this incomparable vision, reconstructing the missing structures. This vision which seems to exceed the limits of time, that evokes memories of rites and cerimonies from a lost world and which illuminates an aspect of the mysterious life of a tragic emperor, also throws a ray of light on the knowledge and technical expertise of Roman naval architecture, still not well enough known.
Perhaps no enterprise more than this one has shown the essence of modern archaeology, that searches, in the most distant relics, knowledge of how life was in the past. Perhaps no undertaking more than this one has documented the links with the distant past, which yet to us is so close.
This spectacle of evokative beauty, of poetry actually lived for a time, repays us for the worries and bitterness which the project bestows upon its followers.
Day by day the level of the water is inexorably rising. The great hull is largely submerged and the magical vision has disappeared, replaced by the sad picture of a real shipwreck.
There are swings of hope and disappointment. Those who have supported this work of faith and passion cannot now countenance even the thought of definitive abandonment, and constancy at the end is repaid."

Intervention by the Navy Ministry

During the summer, the delicate work of excavating the site having recommenced, new bronzes were found including the third beam end fixture with outstretched hand which demonstrated the existence of a second symmetrical pair of rudders, an element of exceptional interest for the study of the ship.
The Director General of Naval Construction and Engineering, General Umberto Pugliese, who had contributed to the project through his expertise since 1926, now gave a very personal contibution to the undertaking. He, along with the private industrialists, managed to bring about first the construction of the cradle and then the slipping of the great hull out of the lake and onto "real" dry land with only simple means at his disposal. The second unit of the legendary "Nemorese Fleet" was slipped onto dry land alongside its sister ship in October 1932.