SS
Pentrych
Built in 1899 and launched
as the Bardsey, this 3382 ton Teeside steamship plied it's
trade for nine years before passing into the ownership of
the Pentwyn Steamship Co. Ltd. Re-named Pentyrch in tribute
to a village north west of Cardiff and armed with a stern
mounted 4.7 inch gun, she survived 3 years of wartime trading
- but not without incident. During a Mediterranean passage,
on September 30th 1916, Pentyrch luckily escaped a mauling
from a German submarine, during which she was narrowly missed
by a torpedo and suffered damage by gunfire from the pursuing
sub. No casualties were reported.
She was not so lucky
on April 18th 1918, when laden with coal and five miles W.N.W.
of the Brighton Light Vessel, she again came under submarine
attack, this time from the UB-40 (which survived the war only
to be blown up by the Germans themselves when they evacuated
their Flanders Flotilla Base in Bruges). This time a torpedo
found its mark and quickly sank her with one fatality among
the crew.
She now lies in an
easy 17-21m, her highest point 7m proud of the seabed. She
is a good dive especially for novices as, even though her
sides were blown apart her stern section remains and she still
looks ship-like.
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