Wreck of the Kassandra Louloudis


SHIP NOTES: Sources: Gentile, Gary, Shipwrecks of North Carolina: From Diamond Shoals North, Gary Gentile Productions, 1993; Jordon, R.
Name: KASSANDRA LOULOUDIS	Type: freighter
Built/Builder: 1919 by W. Gray & Co.	Speed: 10.5 kts
Date Sunk: 3/17/1942	Cause: Torpedoed by U-124
Size (ft.): 400 x 52 x 28	Tonnage: 5106 tons
Propulsion: Oil-fired steam	Location: LORAN: 26886.9/40274.7


SHIP HISTORY; (Gentile, Hickam, Hoyt, Jordan, Moore)
By coincidence of timing and common purpose, in the late afternoon of March 17th, the Kassandra Louloudis found itself in a informal grouping of ships approaching the Diamond Shoals. The group included the Kassandra, the tankers Acme, and Gulf Dawn. Ag 1650 EWT, the master of the Kassandra, Captain Themistokles Mitlas, was watching the Acme, when suddenly the stern of the Acme exploded. Mitlas ordered ship to full power and started toward the Diamond Shoals light bouy in a zig-zag course. The Kassandra continued westward, close to shore, passing within 3 miles of the bouy. Suddenly, the dark silhouette of a periscope was spotted off of her port side followed quickly by the bubble trails of two torpedoes. The Kassandra successfully avoided the first torpedo, but the second hit an empty hold on the port side. The explosion knocked out the steering gear and the sea poured in the gaping hole. Mitlas ordered "abandon ship" and was successful in getting his entire crew safely in lifeboats. The Coast Guard Cutter Dione added the survivors of the Kassandra to the already rescued crew of the Acme.

Kassandra Louloudis as the Bondowoso, circa 1919 (15)

Rudder, prop and stern section		Two spare propeller blades

DIVING NOTES:
Diving Depths: 70 ft.
Current: medium to undiveable, generally running from starboard to port, quartering from bow to stern
Visibility: usually 40 ft or better; the white sand and shallow depth adds to the general "brightness" of the viz on this wreck; however, generally the better the viz, the harder the current
Summer Temperature: high 70s to lo 80s; generally no thermocline
Points of Interest: numerous — stern with prop and rudder; spare prop blades; 3 boilers; engine - toppled over; lots of cargo remains: truck/jeep tires, aircraft tires, truck engines, railroad tracks, medicine bottles, iron bars, rebar, etc. — a vertiable junk yard! Lots of fun.
Fish/Animal Life: I almost always see sting rays, turtles and nurse sharks on this wreck; lots of tropicals; Large groups of spadefish, numerous triggerfish, etc. There are also some very odd, large and colorful filefish on this wreck. I think they are "Orange" filefish - Aluterus schoepfi. I have never seen them anywhere else off NC.

Pile of rebar and steel		Truck engine

Remains of engine		Railroad car wheels
Description: This wreck is a lot of fun to dive if you can get out there — the shoal currents can really hum on this wreck!. It is like diving a large underwater junkyard. The wreck is relatively contiguous from stern to bow, with only a short break to the rudder section. The wreck profile is relatively low, with the boilers providing the highest point of relief. I have never seen any evidence of the bow end of the wreck - no anchors, windlass, etc. I have seen some evidence of anchor chain, but other than that the Kassandra simply ends as if it never had a bow. I suspect from year to year the amount of sand that builds up on this wreck varies and could cover certain sections, but I have never seen things completely buried nor parts of the bow. Navigation is pretty straight forward although the in very low viz, all the junk starts looking the same if you are in the middle of the wreck. Fortunately, viz is usually very good and the white sand helps. The port edge usually offers a leeward shelter to explore during all but the hardest of the prevailing currents - IOW, if you can drag yourself down the line, you can usually find shelter there to do a dive.

Diver explores a shipment of pipe		Nurse shark swims over wreckage

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