Laura C wreck

Laura C is one of the most famous wrecks in the southern Ionian Sea of Calabria… This is the “Laura Couselich”, a cargo ship 150 m long, requisitioned by the Royal Navy during World War II, torpedoed and sunk in 1941 off the town of Saline Joniche (RC).
The wreck lies on the bottom in sailing trim and it’s now totally silted at the bow; the half with the stern, however, is well preserved, with its large cargo holds full of goods and supplies for the Italian troops, with the high flagpoles in their original position and the rudder blade well preserved under the imposing stern.
The whole ship is covered with madrepore and sponges of various kinds, in addition to tunicates; the Anthias anthias fishes and the breams (Diplodus), along with abundant damselfishes (Chromis chromis), creat real clouds that envelop and surround the entire structure of the ship. In dark areas it’s easy to see the furtive eyes of hundreds of shrimp, watching us timidly from their hiding places.
The Laura C wreck structures are colonized by a large number and variety of sessile species , such as black sponges and hydroids; on the starboard side of the ship there are floral corals (Cladocora caespitosa).
Often close to the wreck we meet large specimens of white breams, but there are also saddled seabreams and, if we are lucky, it could happen a meeting with big pelagic fishes: greater amberjak, blue sharks, sunfish and barracudas.

THE DIVE ON THIS WRECK IS CURRENTLY FORBIDDEN BY ORDER OF COAST GUARD
(Ordinance N° 115/11 of the Coast Guard of Reggio Calabria)

Place	Saline Joniche (RC)
Dive type	Recreational or technical Dive
Minimum depth	18 m
Maximum depth	55 m
Bottom type	Sandy seabed
Difficulty	Medium-High. Access from the shore. Visibility could be good, often excellent.
Level required	Advanced + Deep
Interest	Historical, biological and photographic interest.
Notes	Abundant presence of fishes: groupers, breams, snappers, amberjacks, moray eels, sometimes barracudas. Presence of nudibranchs and sessile organisms too.