Lt221

The dive

LT 221 was an American tug, described by the Cagliari technical centre that dives her as a tug and minelayer. On 15 October 1944 she struck one of the mines laid in defence of the Gulf of Cagliari and sank almost immediately, taking most of her crew and the pontoon she had under tow. The explosion was violent enough to tear the hull nearly in two, and that is how she lies today: on her starboard side on a sandy bottom at 49 m, with the two sections joined only by twisted metal and the structure rising to about 36 m.

The two halves give the dive its shape. The stern still carries its propeller and rudder in good condition; the bow keeps the wheelhouse, with some of the glass still in place, and the interior is open enough that the control room and its portholes can be reached. Around it the wreck carries the usual growth of an eighty-year-old steel hull in the Mediterranean, with dense schools of fish over the structure, nudibranchs on the plating and moray eels in the recesses.

One correction matters for planning. The catalogue files this site under Capo Carbonara, but every source that dives it places it in the Gulf of Cagliari, the Golfo degli Angeli, among the wartime wrecks worked out of Quartu Sant'Elena and Cagliari alongside the Romagna, the Entella, the Isonzo and the Loredan. That is some 30 km west of the Capo Carbonara marine protected area at Villasimius, and the marine park's diving rules do not apply here. Treat this as a Gulf of Cagliari wreck dive out of the city, not a Villasimius reserve dive.

• Hull broken nearly in two by the mine, lying on its starboard side
• Stern with propeller and rudder intact
• Bow with the wheelhouse and some glazing still in place
• Penetrable interior including the control room with intact portholes
• Dense fish schools, nudibranchs and moray eels on the structure

Conditions

An offshore wreck on open sand in the Gulf of Cagliari. The wreck sits between 36 and 49 m, which puts it well below the summer warm layer and in the dim light of that depth range. No source publishes visibility or temperature figures for the site, so ask the operator on the day rather than planning to a number.

On current: No source we could read reports the current on this wreck, so we are not giving a figure. What is documented is the depth: the sand is at 49 m and the shallowest structure at about 36 m, which puts the whole dive in decompression and the deepest part beyond recreational limits. Plan gas and deco for 49 m even if you intend to stay on the high points.