Wrecks of Cape Wrath

The undived deep wrecks of the North West coast of Scotland was the object of interest to Ric Waring and his group of Northern gas divers. We set off from Scrabster to look for and locate several wrecks we had information on.

Nine wrecks were known to be in the area, Alwaki, Prince Rupert City, HMS Bullen, Manipur, Majorka (previously dived), Fornebo, a possible sub and two unknowns. Some sources also put Caribbean between Cape Wrath and Orkney but other sources place it to the west side of the cape. We will save this one for another trip.

The first day saw us find the Alwaki, torpedoed by U-61 on 10/7/40, in a depth of about 75m, bottom times of up to 30 mins saw the stern of the wreck well explored. The sheer size of this 4533 ton freighter meant that the forward section is still to be looked at. Her identity was confirmed by the finding of a dinner plate with the owning companies initials marking the plate.

Of real interest was HMS Bullen, and Manipur, and the potential sites of these two wrecks were quickly located. Bullen started life as an American frigate known as the USS DE78 before she was leased to Britain and used by the RN. She was torpedoed by U-775 on 6 Dec 1944 and lay undiscovered until 28/7/02 when she was marked on Karins sounder in a general depth of 80-90m.and was first dived on 29/7/02. Bottom times were up to 20 mins and the deepest recorded depth was 91m, the four open circuit divers concluded that for real exploration this was close to the max depth for their cylinders, the five rebreathers did not have this limitation. The shot line had landed in the open bridge area so an immediate recognition of the wreck being a warship was easy, fire control and range finding equipment jumbled in amongst the compass and telegraphs and further up the wreck were small deck guns with ammunition spewed out over the sea bed.

SS Manipur is known locally in Kinlochbervie as the copper wreck and has been salvaged by Risdon Beasley in the 70s and Alec Crawford in the 90s. Whether or not the Manipur was actually dived or not during these operations is not known but the general depth of 70m would not of been an easy dive in those days and we are sure that no previous techie team has ever been there. She lies were she was torpedoed by U-57 on 17/7/1940 west of Cape Wrath and was located by Karin on 29/7/02 and dived the following day. The wreck is well broken and her general cargo was open to see, small caterpillar tracked vehicles being the most unusual objects , the odd copper ingot was seen but generally the team was most impressed by the efficiency of the salvors. Bottom times were up to 40 mins in a depth of about 70m. Manipur is a huge wreck and will need several more visits to get e clear picture of the layout of the wreck.

The fourth day saw our dreams of six virgins in six days shattered as the seas off Cape Wrath were too rough to dive in. We returned to the sheltered waters of Orkney were the last two days saw us dive HMS Pheasant, she lies in 84m west of Hoy were she sank on 1/3/17 from either a torpedo or mine.

Seven new wrecks were located and three of them dived and identified, needless to say that we will be back in the area as soon as we can to dive the others and find more. Heres to the next trip.

DE- 78 BULLEN HMS BULLEN K-469 CLASS - Buckley Displacement 1,400 Tons, Dimensions, 306' (oa) x 37' x 13' 6" (Max) Armament 3 x 3"/50, 4 x 1.1" AA, 8 x 20 mmAA, 3 x 21"TT (1x3) 1 Hedgehog, 8 DCT, 2racks. Machinery, 12,000 SHP; G. E. Turbines with electric drive, 2 screws Speed, 24 Knots, Range 6,000 NM @ 12 Knts. Crew 186. Operational and Building Data Laid down by Bethlehem Hingham, Hingham MA. on May 17 1943. Launched August 7 1943. Commissioned (USN) Never. To Britain as lend lease October 25 1943. Fate Sunk by U-775 Northwest of Scotland, December 6 1944.

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