Bergeggi, Noli, Spotorno & Finale Ligure · Italy · Wreck
San Guglielmo (Wreck)
A 1911 transatlantic liner torpedoed in 1918, on sand at 29 m
Area photo: Franciop · CC BY-SA 3.0
The San Guglielmo was a first-class passenger liner, launched in 1911 for the Italy–America route, requisitioned as a troop transport in the First World War and torpedoed by the German submarine SM U-63 on 8 January 1918. She lies on a sandy bottom at 29 m in the Gulf of Genoa off Loano.
Where it is and how deep
44.1175° N, 8.2747° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The wreck sits on sand at 29 m off the Loano stretch of coast, south-west of Finale Ligure, and the dive is a straightforward single-level profile: down the line to the wreck, a tour of the hull, and back up the way you came. At this depth an advanced card and a conservative gas plan do the work.
She went down on 8 January 1918, torpedoed by SM U-63 while serving as a troop transport — the end of a liner launched in 1911 for the passenger trade between Italy and America. That history is the point of the dive: this is a genuine First World War casualty. Little about the layout is published, so keep the line's position in mind as you circle the remains, and let no-stop time rather than the wreck set the limit of the dive.
The wreck
- Vessel
- San Guglielmo
- Type
- First-class passenger liner
- Built
- 1911
- Sunk
- 1918
- Cause
- Torpedoed by the German submarine SM U-63 while serving as a troop transport
- Lies
- On a sandy bottom at 29 m in the Gulf of Genoa off Loano
Launched in 1911 as a luxurious first-class passenger ship, the San Guglielmo worked the Italy–America route. In the First World War she was pressed into service as a troop transport, and on 8 January 1918 she was torpedoed and sunk in the Gulf of Genoa off Loano by the German submarine SM U-63. She has rested on the sandy bottom at 29 m ever since.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Bergeggi, Noli, Spotorno & Finale Ligure: No closed season — the cutoff is wind, with grecale above roughly 15–18 knots stopping diving. Water falls to 13°C in February and peaks near 24°C in August.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the San Guglielmo wreck?+
The wreck lies on a sandy bottom at 29 m, so an advanced (30 m) certification is the practical minimum for the dive.
How did the San Guglielmo sink?+
She was torpedoed on 8 January 1918 by the German submarine SM U-63 while serving as a First World War troop transport, having been a passenger liner on the Italy–America route since her launch in 1911.
Sources
- San Guglielmo Wreck (scubago) — Scubago
- List of shipwrecks in January 1918 — Wikipedia (EN)
More dive sites in Bergeggi, Noli, Spotorno & Finale Ligure
Wall
A yellow-daisy wall at 20–30 m with groupers and barracuda over it
Pinnacle
Twin rocks at 16–32 m with an outside chance of ocean sunfish
Boulder dens at 24–30 m walled in yellow sea daisies
A false black coral colony at the deep end of a gorgonian plateau
Sand slope
A wall of sand falling from 20 m to a debris-strewn 40 m
Herbs growing in transparent biospheres at 8 m
Pinnacle
A crack that sometimes hides an oversized conger on the 24 m shoal
A rock pyramid entirely covered in Parazoanthus
Similar dives elsewhere
A 40 m fishing boat wreck in a restricted park zone
Wreck
Tatinja
Hvar & the Pakleni Islands · Croatia
A wooden boat's cargo left on the seabed after the hull rotted away
The park's most intact wreck: a 1908 minesweeper in 27 m
An upright, intact tug wrapped in sea breams and cardinal fish