A diver has discovered a Norwegian steamship attacked by a famous WW1 German U-boat commander personally responsible for sinking 98 ships during the war.
Dominic Robinson from Plymouth was exploring the deep with a few fellow divers on 22 January when the group decided to descend towards the remains of the SS Thorgny.
The previously unidentified vessel has been sitting on the seabed about 240 feet down in the English channel for over a century – roughly 15 nautical miles from the south west coast of Devon.
The SS Thorgny was a cargo ship built by Porsgrund Mekaniske Verksted in 1908 and used to transport goods during the war.
Tragically, on 18 February 1917, while making a journey from Grimsby, UK, to Hennebount, France, the 743-tonnes steamer was targeted by a German UC-17 submarine.
According to an old statement made by the Thorgny crew, the German U-boat commander, Kapitanleutnant Ralph Wenninger, then ordered the men to leave the ship and to board two lifeboats that were given to them.
Wenninger wreaked havoc off the cost of Cornwall and the Western Approaches during his various patrols in 1916 and 1917.
He was responsible for sinking 98 ships with a total of 102,638 GRT (Gross register tonnage) during his war career.
Then, he ordered his men to go aboard the damaged vessel and blow it up with explosives before setting off again, leaving the crew bobbing about in the lifeboats.
Thankfully, 15 minutes later they were spotted by a British patrol steamer and were given a ride back to land.
During their exploration of the wreckage, Dominic and his team, who are part of the In Deep Diving Centre in Plymouth, had to suffer through freezing conditions – but he says this only made for better photos.
“Despite being in January, weather conditions were fantastic for travelling this far offshore with only minimal wind, the in-water visibility was also awesome at approximately 15 metres with ambient light reaching all the way to the bottom which is unusual at these depths,” Dominic told Jam Press.
“The wreck itself is relatively unusual as the cargo of hundreds of tonnes of pig iron is no longer in the hold but lies in front of the wreck on the seabed.
“My explanation is that the Thorgny impacted on the seabed bow first but momentum caused the cargo to smash the bow to bits and exit the wreck to the front.
“When we first saw the wreck and cargo, this caused us all to be confused until we thought about it on the way back.
“Visiting a wreck like this is a fantastic experience especially when conditions are like this and I consider myself extremely privileged to have had the opportunity.
“Although no one died during the sinking of the Thorgny I always find it bizarre that almost within living memory there were submarines roaming our coastline sinking vessels almost at will!”
In other news, ‘my name is kovid and i’m not a virus’: man, 31, shares pain of sharing name with covid-19
