POTD: Cape Sounion Fish Farm...and More

From 2022 11 03 Athens

"Patroklos island,
Ship of sorrow under waves,
War's dark tragedy."
—h/t ChatGPT

This photo-of-the-day was taken on Cape Sounion about 25 miles south of Athens, Greece. It shows a fish farm. That's mildly interesting I suppose, but it's not really why I snapped this photo. Besides fish, also below the waves here lies the SS Oria. In the background of the photo is Patroklos island. It has a long history, going back to the Chremonidean War. If you never heard of that war, forgive yourself. I hadn't either. The war was fought from 267-261 BCE. But it's not for that ancient war that I snapped this photo, either. It was for a tragedy that happened during a much more recent war, World War II. According to Wikipedia, "On 12 February 1944, SS Oria sank in a storm on the south east rocks of Patroklos island with 4,074 killed, mostly Italian military internees." It was the greatest loss of life in a single maritime disaster in the Mediterranean's history. Travel is enlightening...for some. For others, it's deadly.