About Wreck Intelligence
Wreck Intelligence is a global interactive shipwreck map with detailed, sourced information on every wreck: history, position, and depth.
What the map is
Wreck Intelligence is a free, global interactive shipwreck map. Every wreck on the map opens a detailed record compiled from published sources: vessel identity, loss history, position, depth, and reported conditions, with each claim cited. Coverage starts with the United Kingdom and Ireland and is expanding worldwide. It is built for interest and initial research, not dive planning; anyone considering a dive should rely on local professionals and current conditions.
Coverage starts with the United Kingdom and Ireland and is expanding worldwide.
What a wreck record contains
Each record is built around the vessel as an entity rather than around a page. Identity, construction, loss circumstances, position (published at a stated precision), depth, the physical condition of the wreck and its legal protection are stored as separate structured fields, each with its own sources.
How evidence is handled
Factual fields point to evidence records with fields for a source name, a source URL where one exists, the source date, the supporting excerpt and a confidence rating. A missing value is left missing rather than estimated. The coverage page publishes the current figures.
Where two sources disagree, the conflict is preserved and shown on the page rather than resolved by picking the more convenient number. The full approach is set out in the methodology, including how confidence ratings are assigned and how position precision is decided.
Limitations
This is a compilation of published sources, not original survey work, and nothing on the site reflects first-hand inspection. Depths and positions vary between sources, and wreck sites degrade: several records describe structures that have collapsed further since the sources were written.
Legal status changes. Protection designations and permit requirements are recorded as at the source date shown; for the present status of a protected site, the relevant authority is the source.
Common questions
What is Wreck Intelligence?
Wreck Intelligence is a global interactive shipwreck map with detailed, sourced information on every wreck: history, position, and depth. Each record covers what the vessel was, how she was lost, where she lies, how deep she sits, the condition of the wreck and any legal protection, with each factual field attributed to its source.
Who publishes it?
Wreck Intelligence is an independent project, not affiliated with any heritage authority, tourism body or commercial organisation. Editorial contact is hello@wreckintelligence.com.
Can I use this to plan a dive?
No. Wreck Intelligence is for interest and initial research only. It is not a dive plan or dive guidance. Records are compiled from published sources, and sources disagree, particularly about depths and positions; where a disagreement has been recorded it is shown on the wreck page rather than resolved silently. Anyone considering a dive should rely on local professionals and current conditions, and on the relevant authority for the legal status of a protected site.
Where does the data come from?
Published sources: heritage registers and official marine datasets, museums and archives, contemporary and historical press, specialist books and websites, and academic work. Each evidence record has fields for the source name, URL where available, source date, the relevant excerpt and a confidence rating. Most records are undated, and missing dates are left missing rather than estimated. The sources are listed on every wreck page, and the open-data notices on the attribution page.
Can I reuse the data?
Statistics and facts may be cited with attribution to Wreck Intelligence and a link to the page used. Free embeddable wreck cards are available for maritime history, heritage and club sites. Third-party material remains with its owners; see the terms and attribution pages.
Why are some coordinates approximate or hidden?
Because publishing exact positions for protected wrecks and war graves invites interference with them. Their positions are shown to about 1 km at most, and some are withheld entirely. A position is also published only when its source permits redistribution, and a record whose visibility has not been set has its position withheld rather than published by default.
What does the map not cover?
Coverage starts with the United Kingdom and Ireland and is expanding worldwide. Sites with no usable published evidence are out of scope. Absence from the map means nothing has been recorded here, not that a wreck does not exist.
The retrieval study
The project also runs an open longitudinal study of whether structured, well-sourced specialist content gets retrieved and cited by AI search systems. Prompt sets are version-controlled and frozen, raw responses are stored, and the methodology, including its known limitations, is published in full on the benchmark page.
Contact
Corrections are welcome and acted on: if a record here contradicts a source you trust, send it to hello@wreckintelligence.com. Corrections that cite a checkable source are the fastest way to improve the map.