Kerry Wreck Map
5 wrecks in Kerry, Ireland. Recorded depths: 3–40 m. View on map
Crompton
Lost in 1910, not found again until 1970. The Crompton, a 2,810-ton steel four-masted barque and veteran of many Atlantic crossings, met her end on the unforgiving western cliffs at Dromgour Point on Valentia Island. All crew survived -- five men scrambled up the cliff at Filenagaragh to safety. The main anchor was recovered and is now a well-known local landmark, displayed on Des Lavelle's forecourt on Valentia Island. Depths at Dromgour Point range from 20 metres to beyond 50.
MV Ranga
Hollywood came calling for this wreck. The MV Ranga, a 1,586-tonne container ship, was driven onto the rocks at Dunmore Head near Coumeenole Beach on the Dingle Peninsula on 11 March 1982 after losing power in a severe storm -- on her maiden voyage under her new name. All fifteen crew were rescued, some by breeches buoy rigged by Dingle Fire Brigade, the rest by RAF helicopter. Captain Miguel Angel Diaz Madariaga was the last to leave. The ship split in two. In 1991, the stern section with superstructure was hauled away for the filming of Far and Away starring Tom Cruise.
Port Yarrock
The disaster was raised in the House of Commons. On 28 January 1894, the three-masted iron-clad barque Port Yarrock -- carrying refined copper ore worth GBP 100,000 from the US to Cobh -- was driven onto Kilcummin strand in Brandon Bay after dragging her anchors for over a week in a disabled state. All 20 British and Scandinavian crew perished; seven bodies were never recovered. The Court of Inquiry blamed the managing owner, Robert John Rowat, for allowing the ship to sail short-handed and for failing to send instructions to move her to safety. An anchor and centenary memorial stone placed in 1994 stand on shore above Kilcummin strand. Very shallow shore exploration in the Maharees area.
SS Quiebra
Artillery shells still lie in the gullies. Scattered to the west of the main wreck site off Great Blasket Island, these munitions from the SS Quiebra's wartime cargo are a stark reminder of what this ship was carrying when she went down. The WWI munitions steamship lies at 15-27 metres on the north face of the island at Lochar Rock, well broken up but with boilers standing upright and the recoil spring of a ship's gun visible among the wreckage.
Santa Maria de la Rosa
A boy called Giovanni was the one survivor. Vice Flagship of the Guipuzcoan squadron in the Spanish Armada of 1588, the Santa Maria de la Rosa was already battered by earlier fighting when she came into Blasket Sound to shelter behind Great Blasket Island. Once her anchor was lost she struck Stromboli Reef and went down at once. Sydney Wignall and Colin Martin found her again on 4 July 1968, and she became the first Armada wreck to be investigated on properly scientific lines; the hunt for her was also the first swimline search on a large scale anywhere in the British Isles. On flat shingle at 35-40 metres lie a mound of ballast stones, parts of the lower hull and the step of the main mast. A pewter plate bearing the word "matute" helped to identify two brothers among her crew. The site is protected for its archaeology, and permission is required.