Devon Wreck Map
4 wrecks in Devon, United Kingdom. Recorded depths: 24–85 m. View on map
Flying Enterprise
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.
HMS Scylla
The last Royal Navy frigate built at Devonport Dockyard, she had served with distinction from 1970 until her 1993 decommissioning as the final Leander-class vessel on active duty. Cleaned of contaminants and prepared for her new role, she now sits upright on sand between 9 and 26 metres, her 113-metre hull colonised by a rapidly developing ecosystem of anemones, sponges and fish that marine biologists continue to study.
SS James Eagan Layne
This American Liberty ship was torpedoed by U-1195 off Eddystone Reef in March 1945 — one of the very last U-boat kills of the war — and sank in Whitsand Bay after an unsuccessful tow, mercifully without any loss of life. The structure teems with life: pollack shoal around the superstructure, conger eels lurk in the hull plating, and spider crabs carpet the decking in season.
SS Persier
Originally launched in the closing months of World War I as War Buffalo, the Persier spent her interwar years under the Belgian flag before the next conflict caught up with her. In February 1945, a torpedo struck her port side while she sailed in convoy just three miles from Eddystone. She limped into Bigbury Bay and grounded on a reef, where she remains today between 18 and 28 metres.