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Ship wrecks diving Sites around Inishowen
 La Trinidad ValenceraThe Most Famous of all of Inishowen's wrecks is the Spanish Armada's La Trinidad Valencera which foundered in Kinnego Bay in 1588 |
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 HMS SaldahnaOn the night of the 14th Dec 1811 the British Warship HMS Saldanha was shipwrecked in Lough Swilly with the lost of 256 souls.The captian was William Packenham son of the second Lord Longford. He apparently had a premonition of his own death predicting that the ship would perish on this voyage. This ship was used as an emigration ship from Ireland to Philadelphia |
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 HMT CortientiesOriginally built in 1910 by Beverly Shipyard, Hull, (yard no. 201) she was owned by T.W. Bascomb, Grimsby, registration no. GY 552. A screw ketch, she measured 131.5ft. x 22.5ft. and grossed 280 tons (119 net) and powered by engines from C.B. Holmes of Hull.. In February 1915 she was drafted into the Navy as an minesweeper (Admiralty No. 1149) and fitted with a single 6 pounder gun. She struck a mine while patrolling off Malin Head. Known locally as 'Mickey Willie's Wreck'. |
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 HMS RacoonOn January 9th, 1918, the British destroyer Racoon, built in 1910 by Cammell Laird & Co was a British Beagle Class Destroyer . It was lost after running aground in a snowstorm, off the Garvagh Island near Malin Head All crew, 91 in total lost their lives. |
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 HMS JusticiaJusticia RMS was managed by the White Star Line as a Royal Mail steamship. Built by Harland & Woolf of Belfast as the ´´Staterdam´´ for the Holland Amerika Line and launched in 1914. Bound for Liverpool from New York in ballast, on Friday 19th 1918 she was twice hit by torpedoes from UB-64 and badly damaged.HMS Justicia lost power and was then taken in tow by HMS Sonia. The next day however, she was again torpedoed twice by another U-boot UB-124 and sank 11 miles NNW of Inishtrahull, |
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 U-Boat U-89U-89 (A Mittel U type Uboat )was rammed by escort ship HMS Roxburgh,on 12 February 1918,approxiamtely, 24 miles North of Malin Head. |
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 HMS AudaciousHMS Audacious was a King George V class Super-Dreadnought Battleship, Grossed 23.000 tons and had a crew of 900. Armoury included ten 13.5 inch guns, sixteen 4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes.She was the first principal casualty in the First World War as she struck a mine laid by German Norddeutscher Lloyd liner SS Berlin, while leaving Lough Swilly at 08.45 on a gunnery exercise. The mine exploded on her port side just forward of her aft engine room bulkhead. |
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 HMS DrakeHMS Drake was the lead ship of her class of armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. She remained with the Grand Fleet until refitted in late 1915 when she was transferred to the North America and West Indies Station for convoy escort duties. She participated in the unsuccessful search for the German commerce raider SMS Möwe in 1916. Drake was torpedoed by a German submarine in late 1917 off Rathlin Island Northern Ireland and sank in shallow water with the loss of 18 lives |
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 HMS AssuranceA Royal Navy Tug of 700 tons, measuring 156.75 x 33.25 x 10.5ft. Built by Cochrane and Holmes of Selby and launched 23rd May 1940. Armed with 1 x 3 inch deck gun. Specially fitted for deep ocean towing, she was waiting for instructions when she drove ashore north of Greencastle. She was lost on the 18th of October 1941,and lies off Bluick Rock near Greencastle golf course. |
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 SS LaurenticOn the 23 January 1917, the 14,892-ton liner SS LAURENTIC, which had been converted into an Armed Auxiliary Cruiser, hit a mine off the coast of Northern Ireland. In her strong rooms were 43 tons of gold, in 3211 separate gold ingots, valued then at more than £5 million, being taken to the United States to pay for food, steel, and munitions which Britain needed to continue the war against Germany. The SS LAURENTIC sank so swiftly that 354 of 745 men aboard were lost. |
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 SS Castle EdenSS Castle Eden was built in 1914 by the Irvine Shipbuilding Cpy of West Hartlepool, she grossed 1,919 tons, and measured 86,25x12,21x5,61 metres. Powered by a 175 hp triple expansion steam engine. Carrying a cargo of 1,929 tons welsh steam coal for the Royal Navy from the Clyde to Loch Swilly she was torpedoed on 4th March 1918 by German submarine U-110 and sunk. |
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 SFV Willam MannellOriginally built in 1917 in Middlesborough she grossed 276 tons and measured 125.5 x 23.4 x 12.8 ft. Her official number was 144425. She served with the Royal Navy in WW1 as an escort vessel and in WW2 as a minesweeper. After the war she was re-converted back to a fishing trawler and bought by J. Marr & Son Ltd. She struck rocks near Glengad Head and sank in Culdaff Bay while under tow. Was named after a crewman who served onboard the Victory with Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. |
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 SS JackinsonvilleOn August 30th, 1944, U.S. tanker Jacksonville, steaming in convoy CU 36, is torpedoed by the German submarine U-482 while en route to Loch Ewe, Scotland. The gasoline cargo explodes, giving little chance for the 49-man merchant complement or the 29-man Armed Guard to abandon the blazing ship, which breaks in twain at the second massive explosion. Destroyer escort Poole (DE-151) rescues a fireman and one Armed Guard gunner, Jacksonville´s only survivors. |
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 U-861U-861 is a type IXD2 class U-boat .Launched on the 29th of April 1943. Success 3 ships sunk, total tonnage 20,311 GRT 1 auxiliary warship sunk, total tonnage 1,737 GRT 1 ship damaged, total tonnage 8,139 GRT Surrendered on 9th of May 1945 Trondheim, Norway. Transferred to Lisahally, Northern Ireland on 29 May, 1945 for Operation Deadlight. Operation Deadlight (post-war Allied operation, info) Sunk on 31 Dec, 1945 in position 55.25N, 07.15W. |
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 U 218U-218 is a type VIID,Launched 17th of March 1941.U-218 has the credit for the last ship sunk in World War Two when the British steam fishing vessel Kned (325 tons) was sunk on 10 July, 1945 by a minefield laid on 18 August, 1944 off Lizard Head by U-218. She surrendered at Bergen, Norway on May 8, 1945 and was transferred to Loch Ryan in Scotland later that month for her final fate sent to Lishally to be part of Operation Deadlight. Sunk on 4 Dec, 1945 8,9 nm of Inishtrabull, Northern Ireland |
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 U-1003U-1003 was a German submarine Type VIIC/41.Commissioned on the the 9-12- 1943. She completed 2 patrols during her career. During her maiden voyage, U-1003 was scuttled by the Canadian frigate HMCS New Glasgow. The collision damaged her periscope and detached her snorkel, which allowed water to enter the conning tower. Since her lower hatch was sealed she was able to stay under until depth charges forced her to come up.Sunk 8 - 10 miles north of Inistrahull.Loss of Life 17 dead and 31 survivors |
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 MV Argo DelosArgo Delos MV was registered in Piraeus, Greece grossed 10,392 tons. On the 2nd November 1960 when on route from Glasgow for Cuba to load sugar cargo for China she ran aground on rocks and the vessel broke in two. The Stern section sank whilst under tow of Mailin Head. The bow section was berached on Torbeg.The crew of 14 where rescued.Lies 1 mile North West of Innistrahull at Tor beg |
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 Niamh AineNiamh Aine was returning to her home port of Lough Swilly on 22nd of March 2009,when the skipper took watch at 1.00am and fell asleep at 01.50 the ship was grounded at the base of a steep cliff.The skipper woke the crew, and they donned their life jackets and warm clothing while the skipper made the mayday.Due to the ship position the crew had to wait till dawn for rescue from the rescue services.The vessel was subsequently declared a constructive total loss. |
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BBC Program the Dig WW2 Filming on Operation Deadlight,and diving on U2511 a type 21 U-Boat
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