Avanti Savoia

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia

The bell from Avanti Savoia displayed in Shetland Museum

Gravestone in Wester Skeld with the names of some of the men from Avanti Savoia

The barque Avanti Savoia, (1441 dwt), was built in Genova, Italy in 1890. She was registred in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
On April 4th 1915, in bad weather conditions, bound for Rotterdam with a cargo of nitrates, she was wrecked at Burga Stack, near Culswick Ness on the West Mainland.
All hands were lost in this tragedy, among them a young Shetland boy, Christopher Fraser, 18 years old, coming from a place only a couple of miles from were the ship grounded. He was on his first tour at sea.
Some of the bodies were found and buried in Wester Skeld.
The bell from the Avanti Savoia is displayed in the Shetland Museum.