Deep Wrecks (50 m and deeper)

Rammed by her own sister ship in fog, the 6,010-ton ironclad battleship sank with no loss of life -- and her captain never commanded a vessel again. On 1 September 1875, HMS Vanguard was en route from Dublin to Queenstown when HMS Iron Duke's underwater ram tore open her hull near the boilers. She went down in about 70 minutes. Rediscovered in 1985, the wreck is remarkably intact at 45-50 metres, tilted to starboard, rising approximately 16 metres from the seabed. The gun battery is the highest point. A spare iron propeller sits on deck. Protected under the National Monuments Act; a licence from the National Monuments Service is required. Fifteen miles southeast of Dun Laoghaire.

"LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE" -- the words were painted in five-foot letters on both sides of the hull. It made no difference. On 19 December 1940, the Irish Lights tender ILV Isolda left Rosslare Harbour carrying crew and Christmas provisions for the Barrels and Coningbeg lightships. Three miles out, with the Saltee Islands off her starboard beam, a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor attacked without warning and sank her. Six crew members from Dun Laoghaire were killed. Ireland was neutral. The Isolda was on a humanitarian mission to supply lighthouses. She was 198 feet long, 734 tonnes, built at Dublin Dockyard and launched on 26 January 1928. The sinking remains one of the most poignant examples of the dangers faced by neutral Ireland during the Second World War.

One of six ships lost. The City of Cork Steam Packet Company was systematically gutted by U-boat warfare during World War I, and the SS Ardmore was among the toll. Built in 1909 at the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. in Dundee, 79.3 metres long with an 11-metre beam, she was torpedoed by SM U-95 on 13 November 1917 while carrying general cargo from London to Cork. The attack in St George's Channel, 13 nautical miles west-southwest of the Coningbeg Lightship, killed 19 of her 27 crew. The cumulative losses nearly bankrupted the company. After the war, they rebuilt -- replacing the Ardmore with the SS Ardmore II. The wreck lies in St George's Channel off the Wexford coast.

Two ships. One U-boat. Two days. Eighty-three dead -- sixty-seven of them from a city of just 28,000 people. On 15 December 1917, U-62 torpedoed the SS Formby on the Liverpool to Waterford route. Bad weather delayed the news. Two days later, the SS Coningbeg sailed the same route, unaware her sister ship lay on the bottom. U-62 was still there. All 44 aboard the Coningbeg perished. Originally built as SS Clodagh by Ailsa Shipbuilders in Troon in 1903, the Coningbeg was a Clyde Shipping Company cargo vessel serving the Waterford trade. Together with the Formby, this twin tragedy remains one of the worst maritime disasters of WWI off the Irish coast.

Nobody in Waterford knew. Bad weather had cut the telegraph, and it was assumed the Formby had simply sheltered from the storm. In reality, U-62 had torpedoed the Clyde Shipping Company cargo vessel on 15 December 1917 while she carried cattle from Waterford to Liverpool, killing all 35 crew. Two days later, her sister ship SS Coningbeg sailed the same route into the same waiting U-boat. All 44 aboard the Coningbeg died too. Of the 83 killed across both sinkings, 67 were from Waterford and surrounding communities including Faithlegg and Cheekpoint. The double tragedy devastated the waterfront community and is commemorated as one of the worst maritime disasters of World War I off the Irish coast.

There is nothing quite like dropping onto the Rondo for the first time. This former wartime standard cargo ship — originally launched as War Wonder — sank in a January storm in 1935 and came to rest on a steep cliff face at an angle of roughly 35 degrees. Descending along her hull feels like walking down a tilted skyscraper draped in white plumose anemones and orange soft corals. Every surface pulses with life. Normally buoyed, she is the showpiece of any Sound of Mull trip.

Barrels of Guinness saved their lives. When the SS W.M. Barkley -- the first vessel of the famous Guinness fleet -- was torpedoed by UC-75 on 12 October 1917, she broke in two and sank within minutes just seven miles east of the Kish Lightship. Five crew died including the captain. But eight survivors escaped in an open lifeboat, buoyed by floating hogshead barrels of stout from the breached cargo hold. Built in 1898 and sold to Guinness in 1913, the 569 GRT vessel was also the first Irish merchant ship defensively armed with guns against submarine attack during WWI. The wreck lies at approximately 55 metres about 16 miles east of Dublin Port. A historically significant wreck connecting Dublin's brewing heritage with the submarine warfare of the Great War.

The Bellevue is notable for her unusual resting position, with her stern section pointing skyward from the seabed. This orientation is believed to be the result of a wartime mine encounter. Originally launched as the Escort in 1897, she was a steam-powered trawler built in Glasgow and later renamed Bellevue in 1922. Her final voyage ended in tragedy off the west coast, with the loss of all eight crew members. The wreck lies in the Firth of Clyde, where her triple expansion engine and stern section survive. Netting is reported on the wreck.

Bound for Montreal with capacity for 596 passengers and a crew of 57, the SS Carthaginian never made it past Malin Head. On 14 June 1917, this 4,444 GRT Allan Line steel steamship struck a mine laid by German submarine U-79 approximately 2.5 miles northwest of Inishtrahull Lighthouse. Built in 1884 by the Govan Shipbuilding Co. for the Glasgow-Montreal route, she measured 116 metres long and 21 metres wide. The wreck sits at approximately 58 metres with a maximum height of 4.3 metres above the seabed -- a relatively flat profile at depth.

On 5 September 1914, just weeks into the First World War, HMS Pathfinder made unwanted history as the first major warship ever sunk by a locomotive torpedo fired from a submarine. SM U-21, commanded by Otto Hersing, struck the scout cruiser's forward magazine, and the resulting explosion tore the bow clean off. Of her complement, 259 men were lost. She now rests upright in around 60 metres of water off St Abbs, her hull intact from stern to bridge area but the bow section scattered where the magazine detonated. A designated war grave under the Military Remains Act, she may be visited but not disturbed. Those who descend to her pay their respects to a moment that changed naval warfare forever.

The Anglo Dane's story is marked by the people involved in her voyages and eventual loss. Originally ordered by the Anglo Danish and Baltic Steam Navigation Company Ltd, financial difficulties led to her purchase by Det Forende Dampskibs Selskab (DFDS) in 1867. She served on North Sea and Baltic routes for nearly forty years, with a significant rebuild in 1874 enhancing her capacity. During World War I, she continued her voyages despite increased risks, including a collision with a German torpedo boat in 1914. Her final journey in October 1917 ended when she struck a mine laid by UC-40 near Shetland, resulting in the death of one crew member. The rest were rescued by the British torpedo boat Arab. Today, the wreck lies broken in the North Sea, with notable features like her boilers, cargo remains, and propeller still present, identified through recovered DFDS crockery.

For the entire duration of World War I, the British Admiralty pretended HMS Audacious still existed. The King George V-class dreadnought battleship struck a German mine off Tory Island on 27 October 1914 -- one of the first major warship losses of the war. Despite hours of rescue attempts, she capsized after a magazine explosion. All crew were rescued by the White Star liner RMS Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic. The loss was kept secret to deny Germany a propaganda victory. The wreck now lies inverted at 58-68 metres depth, roughly 18 nautical miles northeast of Tory Island.

SM U-89 sits at approximately 62 metres depth, 25 miles off Malin Head, remarkably well preserved with deck guns at both bow and stern and torpedoes still in storage. She surfaced just 200 yards ahead of the cruiser HMS Roxburgh on 12 February 1918. The cruiser rammed the conning tower without hesitation, sending U-89 to the bottom with all 43 crew. Large cod, pollock, and conger eels patrol the wreck. Designated war grave.

Ninety seconds. That was all the time between the torpedo impact and the Pinto disappearing beneath the Atlantic. She was doing what rescue ships do -- stationary, picking survivors from the water after U-482 had torpedoed the SS Empire Heritage just 30 minutes earlier. The same U-boat fired again, and the 1,346 GRT convoy rescue ship sank almost instantly. Captain Lawrence Boggs, M.B.E., was among the dead. Built in 1928 and converted for rescue service in May 1942, the Pinto had sailed with 10 convoys before her loss on 8 September 1944 while stationed with Convoy HX 305. The wreck at approximately 66 metres lies near the Empire Heritage wreck site, north-northeast of Tory Island.

The sinking of HMS Asia had significant consequences during World War I. Originally a steam trawler built in 1905 by Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1914 for use as a minesweeper. On 12th September 1917, while escorting a convoy into Lerwick harbour, she struck a mine laid by the German U-boat UC-40, resulting in the loss of seven crew members, including her commander, Lieutenant John Duxfield Benjamin. The wreck of the Asia now lies in the North Sea off Shetland. She rests at a depth of 69 metres, with her notable features including a triple expansion engine and anchor.

She nearly changed the course of the war. U-2511 was the only operationally deployed Type XXI "Elektroboot" submarine in World War II -- the revolutionary design that could have devastated Allied shipping had it entered service earlier. Commanded by Korvettenkapitan Adalbert Schnee, she made one war patrol and had a British cruiser group in her sights before the ceasefire aborted the attack. Surrendered at Bergen, Norway, she was scuttled by Royal Navy gunfire on 7 January 1946 during Operation Deadlight after her towing cable parted. One of the most historically significant U-boat wrecks anywhere. Featured on BBC Dig WW2 with Dan Snow.

The steamship Lakemoor, under the command of Lieutenant K J Powers, was part of a convoy carrying war supplies from Newport, Virginia to Glasgow. Onboard were ten officers and fifty-seven ratings, including Lieutenant Kirk Thomas, the second in command. As the convoy passed through the North Channel on 11th April 1918, the German submarine UB-64, commanded by Kapitanleutnant Otto von Schrader, targeted the Lakemoor. A torpedo strike caused the ship to sink rapidly. Tragically, five officers and forty-two ratings perished, while twenty crew members survived. The wreck of the Lakemoor now rests in the Firth of Clyde. Her remains are scattered, with notable features including her anchor, cargo remnants, and a triple expansion engine.

Sherman tanks sit upright on the seabed at 67 metres, some perfectly intact, others still racked neatly in the holds three deep. The SS Empire Heritage was a 15,702 GRT tanker carrying aviation fuel, tanks, and half-track military vehicles from New York as part of Convoy HX-305 when U-482 torpedoed her on 8 September 1944 approximately 20 nautical miles northwest of Malin Head. She went down in under five minutes, killing 113. Thirty minutes later, the same U-boat torpedoed the rescue vessel Pinto as she picked up survivors. The wreck is a designated war grave.

Six torpedoes from two separate U-boats over two days. That's what it took to sink the Justicia -- one of the largest vessels lost during World War I at 32,234 GRT and 237 metres long. Originally laid down as the Holland-America liner Statendam, she was completed as a British troopship. UB-64 torpedoed her northwest of Malin Head on 19 July 1918, but she stayed afloat and was taken in tow. The following day UB-124 found her and fired two more torpedoes. By noon she rolled over and sank. At 70 metres depth, over 25 nautical miles offshore, everything about the wreck is enormous: oversized chains, derricks, capstans on the foredeck, a massive anchor still in place on the broken-off bow. A three-hour-plus boat transfer is required.

A New Zealand-owned ship, requisitioned by Britain, torpedoed by Germany, resting off Ireland. The SS Roscommon was an 8,238 GRT cargo steamship built in 1902 by Workman, Clark & Co. in Belfast for the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand. Taken up under the Liner Requisition Scheme during World War I, she was intercepted by U-53 under Kapitanleutnant Hans Rose on 21 August 1917 while on voyage from Manchester to Australia, approximately 20 miles northeast of Tory Island. No casualties were reported.

First blood from the Berlin minefield. On 23 October 1914, the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Berlin laid 200 mines off northwest Ireland on her very first wartime mission. Four days later, the SS Manchester Commerce sailed straight into them while bound from Manchester to Quebec. Fourteen crew died including the Master. On the same day, the same minefield claimed a far more famous victim: the dreadnought battleship HMS Audacious.

The loss of the Flying Enterprise in 1952 had significant repercussions, captivating both British and American audiences with its dramatic tale of endurance and heroism. Commanded by Captain Henrik Kurt Carlsen, the ship faced a severe storm that led to a perilous list and ultimately her sinking in the English Channel. Despite efforts to save her, including a daring rescue operation by the tug Turmoil, the vessel was lost, resulting in one casualty. Today, the wreck of the Flying Enterprise lies in the English Channel off the coast of Devon, at a depth of 85 metres. Notable features such as her boilers remain visible.

No distress signal. No survivors. No conclusive explanation. HMS Viknor vanished off Tory Island on 13 January 1915 with all 295 hands -- one of the worst Royal Navy losses off Ireland in World War I. Originally built as RMS Atrato in 1888, she was later sold and renamed The Viking for use as a cruise ship, then requisitioned by the Admiralty in late 1914 and sent to war. The cause of her loss was never determined, though the SMS Berlin minefield -- which also claimed HMS Audacious and SS Manchester Commerce -- is the prime suspect. The wreck was finally located in 2006 by the Irish survey vessel Celtic Explorer at 85 metres depth, 18 kilometres west of Tory Island. Designated war grave.

Eighteen minutes. That's all it took for the Lusitania to disappear beneath the Celtic Sea on 7 May 1915, taking 1,198 souls with her. A single torpedo from U-20, fired eleven miles south of the Old Head of Kinsale, struck the starboard side -- followed by a mysterious second explosion whose cause is still debated. The sinking turned American opinion against Germany and altered the course of World War I. Today the wreck lies on her starboard side at approximately 93 metres, heavily collapsed and continuing to degrade from corrosion and tidal currents. The wreck is protected under Irish law (National Monuments Acts; Underwater Heritage Order), and the Irish Examiner reported in 2024 that efforts are underway to document and recover artefacts before further collapse.

The sinking of the SS Armenian on 28 June 1915 had significant repercussions, particularly in the United States. The loss of 29 lives, including American citizens, heightened tensions between the US and Germany, following the earlier sinking of the RMS Lusitania. The Armenian, a British freighter, was torpedoed by a German submarine in the Celtic Sea, off the coast of Cornwall. At the time, she was transporting mules for the French Army. Despite efforts to escape, she was shelled and eventually torpedoed, leading to her swift sinking. Today, the wreck of the SS Armenian lies in the Celtic Sea, with notable features such as cargo remains and guns. The wreck was identified in 2008, sitting upright on the seabed, and is marked by the presence of animal bones, a reminder of her final cargo.

Built in 1925 by Fairfield Shipbuilding in Glasgow for the Anchor Line, she was requisitioned in August 1939 and converted to armed merchant cruiser F56, serving on the Northern Patrol. On 10 August 1940, U-56 torpedoed her approximately 40 nautical miles northwest of Malin Head. Taken in tow, she later foundered. Approximately 300 officers and ratings were rescued by nearby trawlers. The wreck requires a 3-4 hour boat transit from the Donegal coast.