Thematic index
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Submarine Wrecks
Submarine and U-boat wrecks, from WWII Type VIICs in shallow water to boats lost with all hands in deep water. Submarines sit apart from other wrecks: small, enclosed, often remarkably intact, and frequently designated war graves.
World War I Wrecks
Ships torpedoed, mined and shelled between 1914 and 1918, including the scuttled German High Seas Fleet. The First World War left more wreckage in these waters than any other single event.
World War II Wrecks
Wrecks from the Second World War — convoy losses, torpedoed tankers, and U-boats scuttled during Operation Deadlight. Many still hold cargo: vehicles, munitions, and aviation fuel.
War Graves
Wrecks designated as war graves: the final resting place of their crews. Artefact removal is prohibited, and several of these sites may not be dived without a licence or permission.
Shallow Wrecks (under 20 m)
Wrecks with a maximum recorded depth of 20 metres or less. Depth is the deepest recorded point of the wreck, from its sources or, where marked, inferred from seabed survey.
Deep Wrecks (50 m and deeper)
Wrecks with a maximum recorded depth of 50 metres or more. Lying below most wave energy, many of them are more intact than wrecks in shallower water.
Torpedoed Ships
Vessels sunk by submarine torpedo. Torpedo damage tends to leave a distinctive signature on a wreck — a blown-out section amidships or at the bow — that is still legible on the seabed a century later.
Ships Lost to Mines
Wrecks sunk by naval mines. Minefields laid in both World Wars claimed warships, merchantmen, and at least one submarine destroyed by a mine from its own barrage.
Passenger Liner Wrecks
Liners, ferries and mail steamers lost at sea. These are the largest wrecks on the map by tonnage, and often the most historically charged — the loss of a passenger ship tends to be documented in far more detail than the loss of a collier.
Spanish Armada Wrecks in Ireland
Remains of the 1588 Spanish Armada on the Irish coast. Storms drove Armada ships onto the western and northern shores as the fleet attempted to reach home waters by the northern route. They are archaeological sites, protected under Irish law as wrecks more than 100 years old.
Wrecks off Malin Head, Donegal
The concentration of deep wrecks off Ireland's most northerly point, from WWI warships to WWII tankers, in open Atlantic water.
The German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow
The surviving warships of the German High Seas Fleet, scuttled in Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919 on the orders of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter and never raised for scrap. Battleships and light cruisers in one sheltered anchorage.