The SS Wreathier was built in 1897 in Stockton, Teeside and was an 852 gross tonnage schooner rigged steamship owned by Allen Adams & Co. Ltd of Southampton. She was 61m long, with a beam of 9.4m and was defensively armed with a single 18pdr gun on the stern.
She was on route from Barry Dock in Wales to Rouen, with a cargo of 886t of coal when, on the 3rd December 1917, she was torpedoed by German submarine UB-35 (the same submarine sank the Skaala in almost the same location just 23 days later) and sunk about 1 mile West of Prawle Point. The torpedo hit on the starboard side in number three hold and the ship began to sink rapidly. The master came on deck with thoughts of trying to beach the ship, but decided to abandon ship when he realised that the after deck was already underwater (the torpedo hit at 4.15pm and the ship sank at 4.25pm, just 10 minutes later). 3 lives were lost in the attack, the chief engineer, Robert George, Eli Walker, a donkeyman, and Davey House, a gunner.
The wreck is in a general depth of 52m at 50 10.714N; 003 49.695W (WGS84). The forecastle is intact, upright and still has railings and anchors in place, standing some 6-8m proud of the seabed, but the hull behind this is starting to collapse in towards the holds. Immediately astern of the holds there is a large spherical water tank and then the large single boiler.
There is wreckage off to the starboard side here, possibly parts of the swept off superstructure. The triple expansion engine sits upright and intact behind the boiler, but from here to the stern the wreck is completely broken, presumably as a result of a combination of the explosion from the torpedo and the resulting stern first sinking. The prop shaft is clearly discernable in the wreckage and can easily be followed, although it is broken with an overlapping section partway along, and veers off to starboard just short of the stern, which is in 51m or so. The starboard side of the rear holds is completely entangled in a large net. There is reportedly a gun on its stern, although we didn’t see it. She was positively identified in 1984 when the bell was recovered. (Richard Wood, Allen Murray - 2007)
UB-35 sank a total of 43 ships during her career, with a gross tonnage of 49,002t. She served in the U-Flottille Flandern from July 1917, having transfered from the U-Flottille Kurland. On this patrol, she had freed herself from nets in the Dover straights and had an encounter with the Q-ship Carrigan Head. She continued and sank 7 ships for 6870t, all in the Salcombe area. She had also taken on board survivors from the Brixham trawler Rion, who were present when she torpedoed Wreathier. These men were well treated and released later. Unfortunately, this gallantry did not save her English speaking captain or his crew, as the boat was sunk by HMS Leven on 26th January 1918 whilst attempting to run the Dover Barrage.
19 авг 2024
