Dover Wreck Information

This is a section on wrecks in Dover and general diving information for those wishing to dive out of Dover.

1. General information

The Port of Dover has been a cross-channel port perhaps ever since the Romans invaded Britain; they built a lighthouse in AD43 whose remains still exist. The modern port was built in 1909, and despite the building of the Channel Tunnel still remains an important port with many cross-channel ferries arriving and departing regularly. There is a concrete slipway for RIB launching, accessible from Marine Parade, which is usable at all states of the tide. Hard boats are moored in Dover Harbour in Granville Dock or Wellington Dock. Dock gates open about 1.5 hours before high water and close 1 hour after. One boat that runs out of Dover in the summer is Taurus, skippered by Steve Howland of Taurus Charters. Steve normally moors in Granville dock, and there is ample parking near the dock.

2. Wrecks

There are hundreds of wrecks in the vicinity of Dover, I will just list some I have dived. General diving information can be found in 'Dive Kent' by Kendall McDonald, ISBN 0 946020 20 5 and available from many dive shops in the UK.

SS Strathclyde

Listed as an unknown in Dive Kent, this wreck is far more interesting than Dive Kent's description would have you believe. The Strathclyde was built in 1871 by Blackwood, Port Glasgow for the William Burrell & Son shipping company. She was an iron steamship of 1951 tons with a 180hp 2 cylinder compound engine with 2 boilers and a single screw prop. She was 88.7 x 10.72 x 7.71m and was sailing from London to Bombay via Suez with 47 crew and 23 first class passengers under the command of Captain J. D. Eaton.

The Strathclyde left Dover on Thursday, February 17th 1876 and was about two and a half miles from Dover proceeding at nine knots in clear weather. She was overtaken by the German steamship Franconia around 4 to 5pm. Capt Eaton turned his ship to starboard but at the same time the Franconia turned to port and a collision occurred.

The German vessel struck the Strathclyde between her funnel and mainmast, cutting into her to a depth of four feet. The colliding vessel went astern only to rebound and strike a second time making another deep hole abreast of the mainmast The Strathclyde sunk rapidly by the stern. The first lifeboat was lowered with 15 women on board but was swamped by the swell and capsized drowning most of its occupants. A second lifeboat was launched without mishap and managed to save 2 of the drowning people. By this time, the seas were breaking over the vessel as high as the bridge and washing overboard many of those on deck. The captain, 2nd Engineer and a fireman, the last to leave, jumped overboard as she sank Of those on board, 38 were drowned, Capt Eaton was among the survivors.

The subsequent trial, held at the Central Criminal Court in London, of the German master of the Franconia, found the master guilty of manslaughter. On appeal, however, it was discovered that English Law didn't cover him in English waters, and they had to let him go. This led directly to the adoption by Parliament of the existing International Territorial Waters law, which many other countries already used.

One of those drowned was a Louisa Mary Forsyth, to whom a monument exists in St Peter's Church, Notting Hill:

Louisa Mary Forsyth (1859-1876) & Emily Vesey Dawson Hire Forsyth (1855-1878)
'The SS Strathclyde was sailing from London to Bombay, when on 17 February 1876 she was involved in a "dreadful collision" with the SS Franconia about a mile outside Dover harbour, as a result of which she sank within about 10 minutes. 15 of the passengers were drowned, one of whom was a 16 year old girl, Louisa Mary Forsyth'.

Another was Andrew Robert Loughnan, described in the Dunstan Times 12 May 1876:

LOUGHNAN - On the 17th of February, drowned in the "Strathclyde", of Dover, Andrew Robert Loughnan, Major, Bengal Staff Corps. Aged 38. RIP.

Today the wreck lies in 30m of water, about 2 miles out of Dover harbour on a chalk and pebble seabed. This wreck must be dived at the end of the flood tide with good boat cover as it is right under the path of the Sea Cat ferry. The dive should be planned to descend at slack water - neaps if at all possible - and divers should ascend after the tide has turned, taking them away from the shipping lane. Vis can range from good (5-10m) to bad (1-2m) and depends on the tide. It is usually never quite slack water on her, however once down there is protection from the tide inside her. The shot is usually dropped on the highest point - midships - which stands up to about 22m. Forward of this the wreck drops away, with her bow broken and lying on its starboard side. Around this area can be found champagne bottles. Travelling back one finds stone bottles, perfume bottles, jars of preserves (olives, gooseberries etc), boxes of sheet glass and match boxes. Midships are crates of hand painted teacups and saucers. Keep going and you come to the engine area where a large boiler can be seen, behind this the wreck drops away to the seabed for a while, and in the overhang can be found inkwells, marbles, bracelets, various bottles etc. Further on is the stern which is reasonably intact although not particularly interesting.

Update: Since about 2004 diving has been forbidden on this wreck by Dover Port Control.

Anglia

Built in Dumbarton by W. Denny & Brothers for the London & North-Western Railway Co. in 1900, the Anglia was 1862 tons with a 424hp triple expansion engine and 2 props, giving her a top speed of 21 knots. She measured 329ft x 39ft x 16ft. She was taken over as am auxiliary hospital ship in WW1, and on the 17th November 1915 at 12:30pm while commanded by Capt Lionel John Manning, hit a minewhile off Folkestone. She quickly started sinking bow first, and 129 people lost their lives. The ship was wire swept in 1961 and has unusual vented portholes. Note that she is a war grave and should not be interfered with or have items removed. Today the wreck lies in around 30m water on a sandy seabed and although much broken is still an interesting dive.

Lusitania

The Lusitania was another victim of the same minefield that sank the Anglia. The Lusitania was a steamer of 1834 tons and was carrying government stores and general cargo from London to Lisbon when on November 17th 1915 her captain turned back to assist the sinking Anglia and struck a mine too. All crew were saved. The position in Dive Kent is wrong - this is another small wreck with all the stern behind the engines blown off. The real Lusitania is around 250 yards SW and lies upright in 27m. Large tyres can be seen along with drums of cable and wellington boots. We also found British and Portuguese coins and buttons with the ship's crest on them.

SS Komet

Right on the edge of the shipping lanes at about 51.02.1N 01.21.2E is the SS Komet. Lying in a general depth of 32m the viz vcan be surprisingly good this far out, and on the day was more than 6m. The shot was on the bows, nice and pointy still and covered in anenomes with a large anchor and chain. Heading astern there was a cargo of cement, stone and metal poles. Two large boilers approximately 3m in diameter and then the huge engine, whose top is at 28m. Following the propshaft back you come to the stern, under which is a huge scour going down to 39m. I've not managed to find out any more info about this wreck, it looks WW2ish.