Relitto Neuralia

Italy · wreck · advanced

0–33 madvancedAOWboat entry

Relitto Neuralia

A 1912 British troopship and hospital ship, mined on 1 May 1945 and now broken open on sand at 33 m off Torre Inserraglio.

wreckboat

Max depth0–33 m

Required leveladvanced

Entry typeboat

Visibilitynot sourced

The dive

The Neuralia was built in 1912 by Barclay Curle & Co. of Glasgow to carry Indian troops to France and then to Britain. In the First World War she served as a hospital ship in the Mediterranean, went back to passenger work afterwards, and from 1932 spent five years as a school ship taking young Britons to the Baltic and the Norwegian fjords. The Second World War put her back in uniform: Australia, a large troop movement to the Suez Canal, then Cyprus, and in 1944 duty as a support ship for the Normandy landings, about fourteen round trips carrying roughly 27,000 Allied officers and men to the French coast. On 1 May 1945, running for Taranto to collect German prisoners of war, she struck a floating mine off Torre Inserraglio and sank shortly afterwards. Four people died.

The wreck lies about a nautical mile off the coast with its deepest point at 33 m, inside the Porto Cesareo marine protected area, whose own itinerary sheet grades it high difficulty and puts the dive at about an hour. It is not intact: the most valuable parts were cut away in post-war salvage, so what is left is opened-up structure rather than a ship you swim around. Costa del Sud Diving Service describes the standard run as a descent on the anchor line, the silhouette appearing at around 30 m, then a passage down the port side of the hull and back along the starboard side before the ascent. Military helmets and the odd gas mask are still lying in the wreckage.

The biology is the other half of the dive and the park has surveyed it. The masts are the striking part, crusted with sponges (Axinella cannabina, Axinella polypoides, Phorbas tenacior, Aplysina aerophoba), bryozoans including the false coral Myriapora truncata and the sea lace Sertella septentrionalis, and the polychaete Filograna implexa, and the mooring line itself carries the same growth. Seabreams, grouper, lobster, gilthead bream, moray and conger live in the plating, and the wreck draws in amberjack and dentex as hunting ground.

One thing to fix before you go: the catalogue position for this site is wrong. The marine park publishes the wreck at 40 degrees 10.468 minutes north, 17 degrees 54.327 minutes east, which is about 4.3 km south-east of the pin recorded here. Use the park's coordinates, or the boat's, not this one. It also means the biological records automatically attached to this pin describe a different patch of seabed.

A Normandy landings support ship that carried some 27,000 Allied troops to France
Masts crusted with Axinella sponges, false coral and sea lace
Military helmets and gas masks still lying in the wreckage
Amberjack and dentex hunting over the structure
One of the marine park's published blue-trail itineraries

Please note before you go

33 m maximum depth on a wreck the marine park grades high difficulty
Broken and cut-open structure from post-war salvage rather than an intact hull
A nautical mile offshore, reachable only by boat
Loose military artefacts still on the wreck inside a marine protected area

Access & rules

Mandatory requirements

Certification required

AOW

Getting there

Boat only, about a nautical mile off Torre Inserraglio on the Nardo coast. The marine park publishes the position as 40 degrees 10 minutes 28.1 seconds north, 17 degrees 54 minutes 19.6 seconds east (40.1745, 17.9054) - roughly 4.3 km south-east of where this catalogue pin sits. Local operators including Costa del Sub / Costa del Sud Diving Service run it as a scheduled dive.

Operator

Access to the site runs through a local operator.

Restrictions

Diving inside the AMP Porto Cesareo requires prior authorisation from the managing consortium. The provisional disciplinare of permitted activities for 2025 was made enforceable by ordinance 120/2025 of the Capitaneria di Porto of Gallipoli, and covers scuba alongside sport fishing, passenger transport and boat hire.

Rules and permits

Area Marina Protetta Porto Cesareo, managed by the Consorzio di Gestione AMP Porto Cesareo (Porto Cesareo, LE). The wreck is one of the park's published percorsi subacquei, so it is dived under the park's rules and its authorisation regime rather than freely.

Conditions

Visibilitynot sourced

Currentnot sourced

Surgenot sourced

WaterSalt water

Depth range0–33 m

Environmentwreck

Coralnot sourced

Crowdsnot sourced

An offshore boat dive from the Nardo end of the Porto Cesareo marine park. The standard profile is a descent on the anchor line, the wreck resolving out of the blue at about 30 m, one pass down each side of the hull and up. The park allows about an hour for the route.

On current: Neither the marine park nor the dive centre records current or visibility figures for this site. The park's "alto" difficulty grade rests on the depth and on the state of the wreck, which was cut apart in post-war salvage and is entered on a descent line rather than swum from a mooring on the structure. The park's own summary page gives 32 m in its opening line and 33 m in the body; the leaflet gives 33 m, which is the figure to plan against.

Questions & answers

How deep is the Neuralia wreck?

The deepest point of the wreck is 33 m, and the structure starts to resolve out of the blue at about 30 m on the way down the anchor line. The marine park's own summary page gives 32 m in one place and 33 m in another; the park's dive leaflet says 33, which is the number to plan against.

Where exactly is the Relitto Neuralia?

About a nautical mile off Torre Inserraglio on the Nardo coast, at the southern end of the Porto Cesareo marine protected area. The park publishes the position as 40 degrees 10 minutes 28.1 seconds north, 17 degrees 54 minutes 19.6 seconds east. That is roughly 4.3 km south-east of the position this site was catalogued at, so do not navigate to the catalogue pin.

What is left of the Neuralia?

Not a whole ship. The most valuable parts were cut away in post-war salvage, so the wreck is opened-up structure on the bottom rather than an intact hull. The masts survive and are the most striking feature, and military helmets and the occasional gas mask are still lying in the wreckage after eighty years.

Is the Neuralia a dive for beginners?

No. The marine park grades it high difficulty, it bottoms at 33 m, it sits a nautical mile offshore and it is entered on a descent line onto broken structure. Neither the park nor the dive centres publish a required certification level, but the depth alone puts it beyond an open-water diver's limits and it is dived with a local operator.

What will I see on the Neuralia?

The masts are crusted with sponges (Axinella cannabina, Axinella polypoides, Phorbas tenacior, Aplysina aerophoba), the bryozoans false coral and sea lace, and the polychaete Filograna implexa. Seabreams, grouper, lobster, gilthead bream, moray and conger shelter in the plating, and the park's leaflet notes that amberjack and dentex use the wreck as hunting ground.

Do I need a permit to dive the Neuralia?

Yes. The wreck is one of the published underwater itineraries of the AMP Porto Cesareo, and underwater activity inside the park requires prior authorisation from the managing consortium. The provisional 2025 rules were made enforceable by ordinance 120/2025 of the Gallipoli harbourmaster. In practice you dive it with an authorised local centre, which handles the paperwork.

What was the Neuralia before she sank?

A 1912 Glasgow-built troopship that carried Indian troops to France, served as a Mediterranean hospital ship in the First World War, and spent five years from 1932 as a school ship running to the Baltic and the Norwegian fjords. In 1944 she supported the Normandy landings, making about fourteen crossings with some 27,000 Allied personnel. She was mined off Torre Inserraglio on 1 May 1945.

Life recorded at Relitto Neuralia

60 species within 2.72 km · OBIS

Thericium vulgatumrare · 2 records

Acanthochitona crinitarare · 1 records

Acanthochitona fascicularisrare · 1 records

Nodulus contortusrare · 1 records

Anomia ephippiumrare · 1 records

Aplysia parvularare · 1 records

All 60 species recorded in this area

Species	How often	Records
Thericium vulgatum	rare	2
Acanthochitona crinita	rare	1
Acanthochitona fascicularis	rare	1
Nodulus contortus	rare	1
Anomia ephippium	rare	1
Aplysia parvula	rare	1
Aplysia punctata	rare	1
Arca noae	rare	1
Barbatia barbata	rare	1
Barleeia unifasciata	rare	1
Chauvetia turritellata	rare	1
Pisania striata	rare	1
Bulla striata	rare	1
Caecum trachea	rare	1
Cardita calyculata	rare	1
Glans trapezia	rare	1
Bittium latreillii	rare	1
Bittium reticulatum	rare	1
Cerithiopsis fayalensis	rare	1
Cerithiopsis minima	rare	1
Cerithiopsis tubercularis	rare	1
Dizoniopsis coppolae	rare	1
Chama gryphoides	rare	1
Eatonina cossurae	rare	1
Eatonina fulgida	rare	1
Columbella rustica	rare	1
Mitrella scripta	rare	1
Raphitoma echinata	rare	1
Raphitoma horrida	rare	1
Gibberula miliaria	rare	1
Gibberula philippii	rare	1
Gibberula recondita	rare	1
Vitreolina philippi	rare	1
Diodora gibberula	rare	1
Emarginula octaviana	rare	1
Fossarus ambiguus	rare	1
Galeomma turtoni	rare	1
Hiatella rugosa	rare	1
Callochiton septemvalvis	rare	1
Lasaea rubra	rare	1
Lepidopleurus cajetanus	rare	1
Leptochiton scabridus	rare	1
Limaria hians	rare	1
Limaria tuberculata	rare	1
Ctena decussata	rare	1
Lucinella divaricata	rare	1
Hexaplex trunculus	rare	1
Muricopsis cristata	rare	1
Ocinebrina aciculata	rare	1
Stramonita haemastoma	rare	1
Gregariella petagnae	rare	1
Lithophaga lithophaga	rare	1
Modiolus barbatus	rare	1
Musculus costulatus	rare	1
Mytilaster minimus	rare	1
Mytilus galloprovincialis	rare	1
Smaragdia viridis	rare	1
Striarca lactea	rare	1
Ammonicera fischeriana	rare	1
Patella ulyssiponensis	rare	1

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