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Nasello
 Sardinia, Italy
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Max Depth: 91-100ft/28-30m
Entry Type: Boat
Bottom Composition: Sand/Rock
Aquatic Life: Might See Something
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Summer: 76-80°F/24-27°C
Winter: 56-60°F/13-16°C
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The Nasello was a steam powered fishing boat originally built in Hamburg in 1924 with power coming from a special steam generator that was built at the Ottensener Machine factory A.G. in Altona (Germany). The ship however was owned by the Society An. Pesca e Reti Italiana and had its registration in Rome with Registernumber 93. The Italian Navy commandeered the vessel and cahnged it’s name to the F 67 andon the 3rd of April 1943 she set a course from Olbia to the main harbour Cagliari. But by 13:15, when the boat reached the Golfo di Orosei directly in front of Cala Luna beach she was heavily fired on by the British submarine “Safari” and sank immediately.
Diving on the wreck The wreck rests on her starboard side on a depth of 34 meters. The centre of the ship is completely destroyed but the bow and stern are more or less in shape. If you dive from the rear you will see that the rudder and one blade of the ships propeller rise from the sand. When you dive from the port side, over the rear, you will see a severely damaged bow, caused by the impact of the “Safari” attack. After a short while, you reach two cabins, without their walls, only the skeleton of the construction is left. The second cargo room was probably the largest construction on the boat. There is a really big winch to see with a heavy steel cable still on the construction. It is possible to penetrate the bridge and rear of the boat but care must be exercised as there are entanglement hazards and sharp edges! In the bow, which is still in good shape, you can often find a large Conger eel beneath a hatch and directly on top of the bow you can find the anchor winch. The two anchors, roughly 200 kg each can still be recognised and the anchor on the right is hardly covered with anything as the currents clean it continuously.
From the „Safari“ logbook: Captain Bryant’s report of the destruction of the Nasello was described with lots of details. The description of these combat orders show how cold blooded war can be.
- 04:00 hours: We sail in the north of the Golfo di Orosei - From heading E.N.E. no ship are visible, aeroplanes fly over us every now and then.
- 11:37 hours: We spot a steam ship close to the coast coming from the North on its way south. We approach to attack it.
- 12:15 hours: It is hard to distinguis the steam ship from the rocks as there is hardly any contrast between them. It appears the ship was a former fishing boat now used as a mine sweeper, approximately 350 Tons and armed with 2 machine guns on the bow and more on the deck. It is not directly necessary to shoot on the boat as it is travelling with a speed of 9 knots and it looks very similar to a normal fishing boat though we assume the enemy has used the boat to bomb other ships.
- 12:29 hours: We surface and open fire with the deck canon from 1100 meters. The ship does not answer our fire but tries to escape to the coast. The distance from the boat to the coast is approximately 1 mile south of Cala Gonone (40°10’ N,09°40° E). The first shot fires over the ship, the second blows the exhausts, on the third shot nothing happens as our gun jams. The crew is not able to solve the problem so we have to wait to entire day before the canon was back to operation. We open fire again and hit the side just on the waterline. While the crew of the Nasello is leaving the ship with its rescue boats, the sea starts to get bumpy and it is hard to keep course but we want to make sure the Nasello sinks before she reaches shore. We fire 54 times and have some good results. The attack ends around mid day and we see no reaction from Cala Gonone.
More info
http://www.sardiniadivers.com/MapDiveSites.html