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| Vessel Type: |
Liner |
Location: | Co. Donegal |
| Date of Loss: | 23rd January 1917 | Place: | Mouth of Lough Swilly |
| Cause of Loss: | Mined | Boat Dive from: | Port Salon |
| Charted Depth: | 41.8m | Irish O.S. Map: | Discovery Series No. 2 & 3 |
| Height of Wreck: | Scattered | Admiralty Chart No: | 2697 and/or 2811 |
| Hull Material: | Steel | Latitude (GPS): | 55 18.242 North |
| Type of Seabed: | Stones and shale | Longitude (GPS): | 07 35.464 West |
| Average Visibility: | 15 - 20m | Diving Experience: | Experienced |
| Picture available? | Yes - click here |
Diving Information:
- Badly broken up and scattered over a wide area.
- Holes in the hull from the explosion, and from the salvage attempts, can be seen.
- Wreck is now owned by people in England, and diving on her privately is, officially, illegal.
- Previously, the best place to launch from was Port Salon.
- Marks or transits are currently not known.
- An ideal scooter dive.
- Dive High Water Belfast - 5.5 hours.
- Permission is required to dive this wreck.
Historical Information:
- Owned by the White Star Line, she was built in 1908 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast.
- Weighing 14,892 gross tons, she measured 550.4 x 67.3 x 41.2ft., and was powered by two 3-cylinder triple-expansion turbine engines, generating 11,000 IHP giving a maximum speed of 18 knots.
- Commanded by Captain R.A. Norton, she struck a mine one hour after leaving Buncrana and sank in 45 mins, while acting as an armed merchant cruiser.
- Fifty-two officers and 316 ratings were saved.
- On board were 3,211 gold ingots each weighing 40lb.
- During the next 7 years and 7,000 dives, 3,189 ingots were recovered, leaving 22 (maybe) unaccounted for.
- There were no serious cases of the "bends" during those 7,000 dives.
- Her ships bell now resides in the Protestant Church at Port Salon.
Source Publications:
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"Dictionary
of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam 1824 - 1962"
|
by
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Charles Hocking |
| London Stamp Exchange 1989 - ISBN: 0948130474 | ||
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"Dive"
Magazine article
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by
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Rich Stevenson (March 2001) |
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"Donegal,
An Exploration"
|
by
|
J.J. Tohill |
| Donegal Democrat Ltd 1976 | ||
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"Great
Passenger Ships of the World"
|
by
|
Arnold Kludas |
|
"Shipwreck
Index of Ireland"
|
by
|
Richard & Bridget Larn |
| Lloyd's Register - Fairplay Ltd 2002 - ISBN: 1900839970 | ||
|
"Shipwrecks
of the Irish Coast 932 - 1997"
|
by
|
Edward J. Bourke |
| Edward J. Bourke 1998 - ISBN: 0952302713 | ||
|
"Shipwrecks
of the Irish Coast 1105 – 1993"
|
by
|
Edward J. Bourke |
| Edward J. Bourke 1994 - ISBN: 0952302705 | ||
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"Shipwrecks
of the Irish Coast 1582 - 2000"
|
by
|
Edward J. Bourke |
| Edward J. Bourke 2000 - ISBN: 0952302721 |
Other Sources:
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Rob Betz
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www.lostliners.com (2002) |
|
Royal
Navy
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|
Hydrographic Department (1970) |
|
Vic
Foster
|
-
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Castlereagh SAC (1996) |
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Last update - 05-May-2004
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A page from "www.irishwrecksonline.net" ©