North Co. Donegal Wreck List
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Vessel Type:

Steam Tanker

Location:Co. Donegal
Date of Loss:8th September 1944Place:Malin Head
Cause of Loss:TorpedoedBoat Dive from:Culdaff
Charted Depth:64 - 68mIrish O.S. Map:Discovery Series No. 3
Height of Wreck:8mAdmiralty Chart No:2811 and/or 2723
Hull Material:SteelLatitude (GPS):55° 32' 24" North*
Type of Seabed:GravelLongitude (GPS):07° 43' 12" West*
Average Visibility:30mConvert Lat. & Long. to -Decimal - CLICK HERE
Image available?Yes - see below Diving Experience:Very Experienced Tri-Mix
 
Diving Information:
  • Lies  20m North West of Malin Head.
  • Lying upright but broken up in the mid-section with stern twisted to Starboard.
  • Superstructure has collapsed.
  • Six huge boilers as high as a house.
  • Bronze props are still there.
  • Sherman tanks and half-tracks in the holds up to three deep and on the seabed.
  • Prolific fish life. Jewel Anemones.
  • Area usually subject to large swell.
  • A Tri-Mix dive.
 

Historical Information:

  • Built in 1930 by Armstrong Whitworth & Co. Ltd., Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
  • She grossed 15,702 tons, measured 508 x 72.5 x 50.5ft. and was powered by 1,079 n.h.p. triple expansion engines.
  • Cargo consists of oil, Sherman tanks and half-tracks.
  • Torpedoed while enroute from New York for Liverpool in convoy HX-305 by U-482 with the loss of 113 lives.
  • S.S. Pinto rescued many survivors only to be torpedoed by U-482 30 minutes later and sank in 90 seconds.
 

S.S. Empire Heritage

© by kind permission of Leigh Bishop web site


 

S.S. Empire Heritage

© 1995-2008 Guğmundur Helgason web site

 
Click HERE for INFOMAR* Side-Scan image
 
Source Publications:
"Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam 1824 - 1962"
by
Charles Hocking
London Stamp Exchange 1989 - ISBN: 0948130474
"Dive" Magazine article
by
Rich Stevenson (March 2001)
"Donegal Shipwrecks"
by
Ian Wilson
Impact Printing 1998 - ISBN: 094815456X
"Shipwreck Index of Ireland"
by
Richard & Bridget Larn
Lloyd's Register - Fairplay Ltd 2002 - ISBN: 1900839970
"Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast 1105 – 1993"
by
Dr. Edward J. Bourke
Edward J. Bourke 1994 - ISBN: 0952302705
"Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast 1582 - 2000"
by
Dr. Edward J. Bourke
Edward J. Bourke 2000 - ISBN: 0952302721
 
Other Sources:
*source - Geological Survey of Ireland
-
Internet (2020)
Leigh Bishop
-
www.deepimage.co.uk (2004)
Norman Woods
-
Portstewart SAC (2000)
UK Diving
-
Internet (Stewart Ward 1996)

North Co. Donegal Wreck List

Last update - 14-Oct-2020

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