A British cargo ship that was sunk by a German U-boat during the First World War has been located off the coast of Northern Ireland. A research team from the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University were the ones to discover the wreck of the SS Hartdale, which was torpedoed by SM U-27 in the Irish Sea on March 13, 1915.
Following her sinking, which resulted in the deaths of two crewmen, the exact location of Hartdale‘s wreck was unknown – and it remained that way for over a century.
The team from Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences, who are currently working on a long-term project called Unpath’d Waters that aims to identify shipwrecks in the waters between Northern Ireland and Isle of Man, were able to identify the wreck through the use of historical and maritime records, including survivor accounts and German war diaries. Multibeam sonar data was also used.
It was through this research that the team was able to locate the wreck some 80 metres below the surface of the Irish Sea, 12 miles off the coast of Northern Ireland.
Speaking in a press release, Dr. Michael Roberts, who led the search, said:
“Connecting scientific data with our disparate, diverse yet information-rich maritime record has enabled us to identify this previously unknown wreck and create a comprehensive and detailed narrative centred around the vessel that it once was and improve our understanding of UK maritime archaeology.
“The vessel is just one of the many thousands of merchant ships known to have been lost in UK waters that remain listed as missing or have been incorrectly identified due to a lack of high-quality data. We certainly now have the capability and technology to [be] able to rectify this largely overlooked issue.”
Barney Sloane, the principal investigator for Unpath’d Waters at Historic England, added, “This is one excellent example of the vast, untapped potential waiting to be unleashed through the creation of a linked, accessible and sustainable national collection of the UK’s cultural and heritage archives, museums and records; potential to unlock human stories and unleash scientific innovation.”
Hartdale began life as the SS Benbrook in 1910, before being sold and renamed in 1915. At the time she was sunk by the German U-boat, she was transporting coal from Scotland to Egypt.
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The discovery of the SS Hartdale was conducted as part of an initiative by Historic England to identify shipwrecks in British waters and document their condition. The vessel’s discovery is the first win for the project.