The "Carolita" was designed by Walter Pollocks & Son of Faversham in Kent, England in 1915 as self-propelled lighter to carry field guns, troops, horses and land them on shelfing beaches. The X-131 "Carolita" took action in the Dardanelles Campaign during the Gallipoli landings in 1915.
By 1921 the ship was in Malta and converted into a water barge. Renamed from Coralita to Coral and finally to Carolita the ship stayed in Malta until bombed and sunk in WWII.
The sinking itself is still to be revealed since there are different informations. One source is saying that the ship was bombed while tied up in Grand Harbour and later scuttled at its present location. Another source was saying that the barge was tied up next to some submarines which where the target of the raid and the "Carolita" just got hit by mistake.
However, the exact cause and time of the sinking is still unknown.
The X-131 was built in 1915 as a landing craft.
Lenght over all: 30 metres
Width: 7 metres
Draught empty: 1 metres
Draught loaded: 2 metres
Armament: Vickers Maxim Gun
Displacement empty: 160 tons
Displacement loaded: 310 tons
Engine: Bolinder Hot Bulb Havy Oil Engine
The "Carolita" is a dive for all levels of divers since the bow of the wreck is just 5 metres below the surface. It is not a wreck for penetration dives since the seabed is mainly silt and a single unthoughtful finkick could wipe out the visibilety for a while. Even diving in larger groups needs some care taking cause of possible visebilety problems.
Taking this in account you will find a wreck in pretty good conditions with plenty to see on the way to the wreck and back to your exit point.
Max. Depth 22 metres (stern)
Min. Depth 5 metres (bow)
