Wreck Diving in Dublin
10 diveable wrecks in Dublin, Ireland. Depths range from 4–55m.
Guide Me II
When divers recovered the six-pounder Hotchkiss gun in 1990, they found a live round still in the breech. The restored gun now sits in the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire, but the Guide Me II herself remains upright and very intact at 32-38 metres on coarse sand, 1.5 kilometres southeast of the Muglins east of Dalkey Island. Built as an Aberdeen fishing boat in 1907, she was hired by the Admiralty in 1915 and fitted with the gun for anti-submarine patrol. A collision on 29 August 1918 sent her to the bottom, taking one crewman. Rediscovered in 1990 by diver Ivan Tunstead, the collision hole is clearly visible on the port side. At 26 metres long, a complete circuit is possible within no-decompression limits. Always a dark dive -- bring a good torch. Lobsters and conger eels throughout.
HMS Vanguard
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. The layout can be deceptive -- divers report it is easy to unintentionally end up inside the hull. Protected under the National Monuments Act; a licence from the National Monuments Service is required. Fifteen miles southeast of Dun Laoghaire.
MV Bolivar
Dublin was desperate for food. The winter of 1947 was the worst in living memory -- freezing conditions, snowstorms, snowdrifts for weeks. On 4 March, the Norwegian motor vessel Bolivar was making her way across the Irish Sea with badly needed grain and supplies from Uruguay when a blinding snowstorm struck and she ran onto the Kish Bank sandbank. Despite attempts to pull free, the ship broke in two. All crew were rescued. The engine room was salvaged and the wreck partially dispersed with explosives in 1948 as a navigation hazard. Today the remains lie in 4-10 metres, split into two sections about 150 metres apart. The shifting Kish Bank sands alternately expose and bury different parts. Best dived 1.5 to 2 hours before high or low water at Dublin Port.
PS Queen Victoria
She struck Howth Head once. Backed off. Then struck again beneath the Baily Lighthouse and sank in fifteen minutes. On the night of 14 February 1853, the paddle steamer PS Queen Victoria -- built in 1838 for the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company's Dublin-Liverpool mail route -- departed Liverpool with approximately 100 passengers into a snowstorm. Around 02:00 on the 15th she hit the headland. Captain Jones tried to make harbour, but the damage was catastrophic. Dead in the water and filling fast, the ship drifted and struck a second time. Around 83 people perished including the captain. One lifeboat, carrying 17 survivors, reached shore. The Board of Trade blamed the captain, first officer, and lighthouse crew. The wreck lies at approximately 18-20 metres south of the Baily Lighthouse. Permit required to dive.
RMS Leinster
Over 564 dead -- the greatest single loss of life in the Irish Sea, and one of the most devastating maritime disasters of World War I. On 10 October 1918, UB-123 fired three torpedoes at the RMS Leinster near the Kish Bank. The first missed. The second struck the port side. As Captain Birch tried to turn back toward Kingstown, the third torpedo cut the ship almost in half. Twenty-one of 22 postal sorters aboard perished. The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company mail steamer, built in 1896 at Birkenhead, now lies at 28 metres approximately 4 nautical miles east of the Kish Light. The bow stands proud of the seabed; the rest is largely collapsed into sand. The anchor, recovered in 1991, is displayed at Carlisle Pier, Dun Laoghaire. Strong currents and poor visibility make this an advanced dive. War grave.
RMS Tayleur
Her iron hull made the compasses lie. The RMS Tayleur, the largest iron clipper of her kind when built in 1853, departed Liverpool for Melbourne on her maiden voyage with over 650 souls aboard. Within 48 hours, fog and storm engulfed the ship. The crew believed they were sailing south through the Irish Sea -- they were actually heading west, straight for Lambay Island. An undersized rudder and improperly stretched rigging sealed her fate. She struck the rocks on 21 January 1854, killing over 370 people. The wreck at 9-17 metres in Tayleur Bay includes hull plates, a donkey engine, the lower mast, crockery, roof tiles, and even tombstones from the cargo. PROTECTED WRECK -- it is illegal to dive without prior permission from the Office of Public Works.
SS Marlay
Beneath the boilers, conger eels the size of your arm wait in the darkness. The SS Marlay is a moody, atmospheric wreck -- dark conditions, poor visibility, and the constant sense that you are not alone down here. This 800-ton steel collier, built in Belfast in 1890, sank in a December 1902 storm when heavy seas breached the hatches on her coal holds. Fifteen of 16 crew perished. She lies on her side at 25-35 metres, hull fairly intact, approximately 5.8 kilometres northwest of the Baily Lighthouse on Howth Head. Three boilers show at low tide. Lobsters, crabs, whiting, and bib populate the wreck alongside the resident congers. Care is needed around holes in the hull -- accidental entry is a real risk. The boat dive from Dun Laoghaire crosses the Dublin Port shipping lane.
SS Polwell
Not all U-boat captains were merciless. On 5 June 1918, SM U-96 surfaced three nautical miles northeast of Lambay Island and fired a warning shot across the bows of the SS Polwell, a British cargo steamer carrying coal from Troon to France. The crew of 30 abandoned ship in two lifeboats. Only then did the submarine fire a single shot amidships, sinking the Polwell. All crew survived, landing at Rockabill lighthouse off Skerries an hour later. The wreck at approximately 30 metres is broken into three sections, with the bow detached from the rest of the vessel. Surveyed by INFOMAR as part of marine heritage documentation of WWI wrecks in the western Irish Sea. An 86.6-metre coal carrier with an unexpectedly humane story.
SS Vesper
Captain Tolson and 18 men rowed 12 miles to Killiney Bay. Every one of them made it. On 13 January 1876, their ship -- the 478 GRT iron merchant steamer SS Vesper, laden with 620 tons of coal and sugar bound from Glasgow to Dunkirk -- had run aground on the Kish Bank and broken in two. Built by Courlay Bros of Dundee in 1865 for Huntley & Berner of Glasgow, the Vesper now lies at an estimated 10-15 metres on the shallow bank, approximately 11 kilometres off the Dublin coast. A protected archaeological site with LIVE status, the wreck provides a welcome oasis of marine life on the otherwise featureless sandy bank. Frequently dived alongside the nearby Bolivar. Boat dive from Dun Laoghaire, subject to tidal currents.
SS W.M. Barkley
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.