MIOWN (also known as the cement wreck).

This wreck of the Miown lies directly south off Shoreham Harbour about 1.5 miles out. Lying in a maximum of 10-12 metres at high tide, this wreck has recently started to uncover again after many years of being hidden in the sand. Sunk in 1914 in a gale, she was carrying a cargo of cement (hence her other local name). All her crew perished when abandoning ship due to the icy February waters, but the captain remained onboard, clinging to her mast until rescued.

Her cargo can still be seen today, albeit solidified into lumps of rock! The most prominent part is her large boiler which stands proud about 2 metres. There are also quite a few of her ribs to be seen now, including the lifeboat davits sticking out at 45 degrees.

Fish life on this wreck is again prolific. In summer, shoals of bib appear as a cloud, constantly checking the divers out who visit their home! This site is excellent as a night dive in good visibility, with lots of crabs coming out at night to mate and eat, and cuttlefish virtually guaranteed. Some very large wrasse can also be seen in summer skirting around. Towards the bow section, away from the main wreckage is a large anchor, not associated with the actual wreck.

Clodmore

 The Clodmore was a 3,753 ton armed merchantman,  243ft long with a beam of 47ft. She was torpedoed on  the 3rd May 1917. Today the wreck lays out on the  seabed in a depth of 28mtrs, HW. The bows stand  proud then she disappears into the seabed before  reappearing all twisted with her stern upside down. A  big wreck but a lot of it is buried under the sand, so  you never quite know what you will see from one year  to the next as the sands shift 

Fortuna

This Dutch Steamship of 1.254 tons was 270ft long and had a beam of 36ft, she struck a mine on the 22nd October 1916, 15 of her crew were killed. Today the wreck of the Fortuna lays 8 miles to the SE of Brighton and rests in a depth of 32mtrs. She is upright & still intact, although all the superstructure has now collapsed down.

She was holed in the stern & it is possible to enter the hull from here, infact there are now large access areas along the whole length of the ship but take care as it is quite a silty wreck. In the holds you can see some of the general cargo she was carrying and the bags of cement encrusted to the hull.

Duke of Buccleugh

The Duke of Buccleugh was a 4 masted Iron steamer built 1874. She was 380ft long and 38ft wide. And was driven by her 500hp engines. She was sunk in collision with the Vandalia during the night of the 7th March 1889, the captain of the Vandalia always claimed it was the fault of the Duke but dives since have proven other wise.

The wreck today rests in 58mtrs of water and stands 8mtrs proud of the seabed, she is still in pretty good shape for her age and it is possible navigate your way around this wreck, there are easy access holes to her holds and you can see some of the 600 tons of hand painted china that she was carrying. Visibility is usually excellent in this area.

TR Thompson

 TR Thompson was a 3,538ton armed merchantman,  she was built in 1897 and was 360ft long with a beam  of 47ft. She was armed with a 4.7in gun which was  mounted on stern. Her engine was a 301hp triple  expansion engines and her cargo was 5.600 tons iron  ore. She was sunk on the 29th March 1918 by a single  torpedo from UB57, it struck her on the nose and  opened her up like a tin can, she sank in minutes,  killing 33 of her crew, only 3 survived.

Today the wreck of the TR Thompson sits  upright with her bows pointing to the east  and partially buried, her superstructure has  collapsed down but as you get to the stern, it  sits high about 7mtrs off the seabed. The gun  has now fallen backwards and down to the  seabed, shell cases lay in the wreckage all  fused together. Plenty of fish on this one.

INDIANA

Indiana built for Bailey & Leetham Shipping Company by R Dixon & Co, 2226-tons, 277ft in Length x 38ft Beam x 19ft Draft. Powered by her triple expansion engine, the British cargo ship Indiana sank after a collision off Worthing on March 1st 1901, while on a voyage from Venice via Burriana to London. She was carrying a general cargo which included Oranges & Lemons. 

This wreck site is directly south off Worthing Pier  approx.1 mile out, Depending upon tides she sits in a depth of 12 mtrs to the seabed. She sunk  following a collision with a German steamer (approx.  7 miles out of Selsey) called the Washington, She was on her way to New York at the time and survived the collision.

The wreck of the Indiana is quite broken up and scattered over a large area, sunk in 1901 and resting in only 12mtrs of water the storms over the past 100+ years have taken it’s toll on this large cargo ship. The site is home to a large shoal of Bib & Whiting and is known to house a number of Conger Eels as well as a few Lobsters, although to find them you need to look under the various plates. This wreck is a great fun dive and an excellent shallow training dive and as a second dive of the day we usually dive Brighton Pier on the way back to Brighton Marina.

CITY OF WATERFORD

City of Waterford makes for a spectacular wreck dive. This 1,334-ton British Steamer was built in 1921 at the Caldon Ship & Engineering Works in Dundee, originally called the Skerries 2 she was 270ft in length & had a beam of 37ft was driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine. She worked the route from Liverpool to Waterford carrying passengers & general cargo to and from Ireland.

 Her history is quite colourful, including action during WWII in the Irish Sea. A Nazi plane engaged her in a running battle whilst carrying a full cargo of cattle, and was eventually brought down by the lucky ship! Her captain received an MBE for this action.

She continued operating after the war as a cargo ship & it was on the 14th April 1949 when the City of Waterford was heading down channel from Antwerp to Cork when she ran into thick fog to the west of Beachy Head. Unfortunately for the City coming from the opposite direction was the very large steamer the Marpessa a 5,500-ton Greek steamer and the collision swiftly sent the City of Waterford to the bottom.

Still recognizable as a ship-shape wreck, her stern & bow sections are upright and still fairly intact, but the mid-section is badly broken. Sitting on a sand scour in 30metres, she is an impressive sight when you sit on the seabed looking up at the bow with her anchors in place. Fish life includes the normal dense shoals of bib, pollack, wrasse, bass, conger eels, lobster & edible crabs. She is covered in Dead Mans Fingers and many species of anemones & on the seabed around the wreck Scallops can be found..

RMS MOLDAVIA

RMS Moldavia one of the finest wreck dives on the south coast. This P&O liner was requisitioned by the admiralty as an armed merchant cruiser in the first world war, she was being used to carry American servicemen to the UK & to war. This monster of a ship weighed in at 9,505 tons and a massive 521ft long with a beam 58ft.

On 23rd May 1918 the RMS Moldavia was torpedoed by the German sub UB57, 57 Americans died as a result of the sinking. The wreck of the RMS Moldavia lies in 49mtrs of water at low tide, she lays on her port side and has a couple of breaks along her hull & as you make your way along towards the bows, the bows are more upright with a 45degrees list. She has some big guns on her as well which are easily identified and shell  cases lay on the seabed. There are rows & rows of portholes all along her stbd side, some are open & some are closed. This wreck is 30miles from Brighton so expect a 2 hour+ journey but its well worth it as the vis can be exceptional.

 The wreck of the RMS Moldavia has been designated a protected shipwreck and divers are not permitted to remove any artefacts from the wreck.

HMHS WARILDA

The Warilda was an Australian steamer, built for the Adelaide Steamship Company in 1907 by W. Beardmore & Co Ltd on the clyde at Glasgow. She was over 411ft in length had a beam of almost 57ft & a draft of 34ft. Powered by her quadruple-expansion engines giving her a speed of 16knots.

Requisitioned by the British Government the Warilda was put to use as a troopship during the First World War & was armed with a 4inch rapid fire gun on her stern. After several voyages the Warilda was fitted out as a hospital ship and served the Southampton – Le Havre route.

On the 3rd August 1918 when returning from France loaded with wounded she was torpedoed mid-channel some 36miles South of Brighton. The Warilda did not sink straight away but remained afloat for several hours allowing time to evacuate some 678 wounded & ships crew including the commander, Captain Simm. However when she did slip below the surface she took with her 123 persons, for his actions in saving so many lives Captain Simm was decorated with an O.B.E. 

Today the wreck of HMHS Warilda lays on the seabed some 49mtrs below the surface at low water, she rests on her stbd side at 45degrees and is very much intact. This monster wreck is an awesome sight with great areas to explore, especially around the stern with it’s large open spaces & huge rudder and 4inch gun sitting upright on its pedestal on the seabed. With huge shoals of fish decorating the wreck this is a divers dream and should definitely be on every divers list.      

HMHS LANFRANC 

The RMS Lanfranc was built in 1907 for the Booth Steamship Company by the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. The Lanfranc 418ft in length, had a beam of 52ft and a draft of 27ft, She was powered by her triple expansion engines giving her a top speed of 15 knots.

During the 1st World War the RMS Lanfranc was requisitioned by the British government and converted into a Hospital Ship.

It was the 17th  April 1917 when the Lanfranc set sail for Southampton from Le Havre, loaded with wounded, she was carrying 234 wounded British soldiers & 167 wounded German prisoners of war, she carried 52 medical staff & there were 123 ship’s crew.

The time was 19.40 hours and Lanfranc was approximately 1/3 of the way through her journey to Southampton when there was an almighty explosion, she had been struck by a torpedo on the port side between the engine room and number 3 hold. It was quite clear that the ship was doomed, as she started to settle by the stern.

The master gave the order to prepare lifeboats and to abandon ship. The two escort ship’s that had been in convoy with Lanfranc, came in and prepared to receive the casualties. Of the 576 persons onboard that evening only 34 lost their lives, 14 British wounded, 15 German wounded and 5 crew, the Hospital Ship Lanfranc had sunk in just over 1 hour.

Today the wreck of the Lanfranc lies 40 miles south of Brighton in a LW depth of 52mtrs, she is sitting upright and fairly intact, there is a break half way along where the torpedo impact occurred. She is an awesome sight to behold, sitting there so impressively, some 10mtrs of the seabed, The stern area is upright and very much intact, with access through a sky light, it is possible to descend down through a couple of decks into what one can only presume as the dining area, going by the amount of crockery scattered around.

Looking at the sides of the ship, you can see the portholes still in place, sweeping right around the stern. As you make your way forward along the deck, towards the break, you can see the decking collapsing down, in on it’s self. At the, break debris litters the sea bed with ginger beer bottles spilling out and spare porthole glass scattered around.

As you make your way to the bow, the ship comes back into her glory, upright, intact and steaming along,  as you drift pass the starboard bow’s, take a step back  and look at the awesome sight and you might just see her name, bold as brass in 18″ high letters  “LANFRANC”, an amazing sight. Great care must be taken when diving this monster of a wreck as fishing  line and nets have been caught on the wreck over the years. If you have never seen big fish on a wreck  before, then you will now. Believe all the hype, this is a wreck divers must.