X127 Lighter

History & Background

• 1915
  Built in England for the Royal Navy as a flat-bottomed landing craft for WWI. Later converted to serve as a water lighter, then a fuel lighter, supplying ships at anchor in Malta's Grand Harbour and Marsamxett Harbour.
• 1940s
  During the Siege of Malta, small supply vessels like the X127 operated constantly under Axis bombing, shuttling fuel and stores to warships at anchor across the harbour.
• 1942
  Sunk on 6 March 1942. The exact circumstances are not fully documented. The wreck settled upright on the sloping bed of Lazzaretto Creek, where it remained largely undisturbed.
• 2003
  An underwater survey initially identified the wreck as X-131. The vessel had been known locally for years under the names Carolita or Coralita.
• 2006
  Further research confirmed the correct identity as X-127. The wreck is now an officially recognised WWII site in Maltese waters.

The X127 lies upright on a pronounced slope, her bow rising to just 5 metres below the surface while the stern sits at 22 metres. This makes for an unusual and dramatic dive profile, beginning at depth on the stern and ascending along the hull toward the bow, effectively exploring the wreck from deepest to shallowest. The vessel is in exceptional condition for a wreck of her age, her 24-metre steel hull remarkably intact. Visibility is characteristically poor due to the sheltered harbour location and silty seabed, expect 3–8 metres typically, which lends the dive an eerie, atmospheric quality that many divers find memorable. A short swim east along the bottom from the X127 reveals a separate Land Rover wreck, adding a second point of interest to the dive.