Biotopes of the First World War in the Almendra de Mar

TarragonaBetween Torredembarra and Sant Carles de la Ràpita, there are more than a hundred ships resting in the sea. These are ships that sank because they suffered an accident or because a German submarine attacked them during the First World War. The focal point of this ship graveyard, which thanks to the forces of nature has already become fantastic marine biotopes, is Ametlla de Mar. Off the coast of this fishing town, there are up to 13 ships, according to Josep Maria Castellví, the historian and underwater documentary filmmaker without whom we would not know this story. "No one knew how many ships there were or why they had been sunk," explains Castellví, who, after consulting documentation from the German submarines themselves, has already published three books on sunken ships, including The secret war in the Mediterranean.

"Most of them were ships carrying coal from the United States, England, or the Nordic countries to Italy or France," he explains. This fuel was used to power factories that were supposed to make weapons during the First World War. During this conflict, Spain remained neutral, so ships passing along the Spanish coast were protected. The problem arose when they reached the Gulf of Sant Jordi and, instead of continuing along the coast to save a few miles, they continued in a straight line and moved away from the border that protected them. There were German submarines, ready to make them pay for their overconfidence. There were clashes that lasted for hours, and all of this off the coast of La Almendra. "We must assume that the fishermen of the time saw all this," explains Castellví, who emphasizes that there was "a certain psychosis" among local residents and fishermen over all these sinkings.

Of all the sunken ships, however, the only one that can be visited by someone who has some knowledge of scuba diving is the Cavour, popularly known as "the MailThis ship, which had been resting at a depth of 54 meters since December 1917, was sailing in the dark so as not to alert the feared German U-boats when it collided with the escorting ship. Searching for information, Castellví discovered that before this accident, the Cavour his name was Florida and had another accident off the coast of New York, when he ran into a ship called RepublicThe shipping company that owns the Republic, the White Star Line, wanted to compensate the crew who had been left without a trip and offered them a ticket on the ship they were building, which was the largest ocean liner ever known. It was so big that they named it Titanic.

All this information, including images of period ships and replicas of the German vessels and submarine, is on display at the Almond Fishing Interpretation Center.