The Wreck of the Delphin

What is it?

It’s the wreck of a Republican cargo ship sunk on 2^nd February 1937. It lies in shallow water (around 5m) approximately 150 m from the shore. 

What’s the story?

This ship was built in the Harland and Wolf shipyard and launched as the SS Optic in 1885. For a time it served as a cargo ship and ferry operating between Belfast and Liverpool. In 1907 it was sold to the Anónima de Navegación y Industria of Barcelona and for ten years, it transported cargo between Cadiz and the Canary Islands. It was sold once again in 1917 to Trasmediterránea and renamed the Delphin (Dolphin). For the next 20 years, it operated as a general cargo ship between the Balearics and the Spanish mainland.

The Delphin in Barcelona in 1931

When the Civil War began, it was briefly employed as a prison ship before being used to transport cargos between the Republican-controlled ports of Alicante, Valencia, Cartagena and Malaga. In Late January 1937 it was transporting a cargo of flour, cod, oil and (possibly) rice to Malaga. These supplies were desperately needed: Malaga was running short of food and preparing to defend against an expected Nationalist assault.

Savoia Marchetti SM.81 bombers of the Aviazione Legionaria over Spain in 1936.

The ship was attacked by Italian aircraft of the Aviazione Legionaria operating from Melilla in Spanish Morocco. It was badly damaged and the Captain deliberately ran it into shallow water not far from Nerja, hoping that the cargo could be unloaded. However, on 2^nd February it was attacked by an Italian Bandiera class submarine, the Ciro Menotti. The Delphin was hit by a single torpedo and sank almost immediately.

The submarine Ciro Menotti in 1929

A Spanish idiomatic phrase that comes from Malaga is “to be more lost than a rice boat” (estar mas perdido que un barco de arroz). Historians believe that this phrase originated with loss of the Delphin, though it is by no means certain that it was actually carrying rice. On many Spanish maps, this wreck is identified as “barco del arroz” (rice boat).

Where is it?

The wreck of the Delphin lies in shallow water around 150m offshore, between Torrox Costa and Nerja. The closest road is the N-340. The location of the wreck can be seen on Google Maps, identified as “Barco del Arroz.“.

Getting there

A local company offers Scuba and snorkelling tours to the wreck. If you are a confident swimmer, and if the sea is calm, it would be possible to swim out over the wreck from the shore. Depending on the weather and sea conditions, you may also be able to see the location of the wreck from the nearby parking place off the N-340 (it’s around 20m to the right of a yellow buoy).