At the very end of 19th century in the Dutch shipyard Rijkee in Rotterdam, a new cargo steamship the Curacao of 729 tonnes was handed over to its customer, postal company. At the end of First World War in 1918, it was sold to Italian company B. Albanese and 12 year after to another Italian company M. Bottiglieri and gained a new name, the Totonno. The ship had a length of 60.7 meters and a width of 10 meters.
At the beginning of the Second World War the ship was requisitioned for the needs of the Italian Navy as s transportation ship. Under military command it sailed until 15th February 1943, when on its way from Italy loaded with various war materials it sailed into Gruž harbor. However during the approach to Gruž harbor, the ship mistakenly sailed too close to the rocks of Grebeni and suddenly came across a mine in an Italian minefield. The mine’s explosion severely damaged the ship at the level of the forward cargo hold, creating a large hole. The Totonno was sinking fast and bow disappeared underwater in just few minutes.
The surviving members of the crew managed to swim and reach the shore of Grebeni, which was only a hundred metres away.
