DATELINE: 5 June 2002

ITALIAN TEAM FIND HMS QUAIL
Claudia Serpieri and her team of technical divers have located the wreck HMS Quail, a WW2 Q class destroyer, in the Gulf of Taranto Southern Italy at a depth of 90m.
Serpieri, who currently holds the record for the deepest dive by a woman, had been exploring wreck sites close to Gallipoli when the discovery was made. A specification for the vessel provided by the Imperial War Museum, London, matched the wreck filmed by the Italian team. HMS Quail sank while under tow, after undergoing repairs at Bari for torpedo damage, having survived an attack by a U-boat.
"We believe more and more that the destroyer we have found is the HMS Quail" said Serpieri. She has contacted the British Naval attache in Rome with details of the find.
The team also uncovered an armed merchant vessel close to the Quail, and the wreck of an RAF Bristol Blenheim, 60 years after it crashed into the sea after a raid on Messina. Their next target is the U-boat that attacked HMS Quail, rumoured to have been sunk by the Navy shortly after the attack

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