The MV Bianca C is considered to be the most famous dive site in Grenada and is the largest wreck in the Caribbean. It is a 593 ft (181 m) long cruise liner that had the misfortune to sink on two occasions. The first time was in France in August 1944 after it was torpedoed and the second time was in 1961 in Grenada after an explostion and fire. The ship was first launched in June 1944 as the Marechal Petain. Construction had not been completed so the vessel was towed to a port near Marseille. It was during the tow the Germans torpedoed the Marechal Petain and it went to the bottom. When the hull was raised it was renamed the La Marseillaise and was refitted as a cruise ship. It went into service in July 1949 and sailed for Yokohama, Japan. In 1957, the ship had to be sold to Panama´s Arosa Line; it was given the name Arosa Sky. She was refitted again and became the company´s flagship, but within two years the Arosa Sky was sold to the Costa Line in 1959. The Costa Line, an Italian cruise line in business since 1854, would later gain international fame again when the Costa Cordia ran aground in 2012. The Arosa Sky was renamed the Bianca C for one of the owner´s daughters, the C presumably standing for Costa. In 1961 the Bianca C’s main route ran between Italy and Venezuela. On Sunday, October 22nd, 1961 the Bianca C arrived at St George from LaGuaira, Venezuela to embark passengers bound for Great Britain. At 9:30 am loud explosions were heard coming from the engine room, followed by fire. The passengers and all but two of the crew members were rescued. As the local authorities did not have the equipment to extinguish the fire, the ship was left to burn until the British frigate HMS Londonderry could arrive from Puerto Rico. (Grenada would only gain its independence from Great Britain on 7 February 1974.) The burning ship was in the main anchorage and would block the harbor if it sank there, so the Londonderry towed it to its present location where the Bianca C. sank, on 24 October 1961. Additional information about this fascinating wreck can be found at MV Bianca C