Another one of those ships carrying stone blocks to London, maybe! There are a few about and for the most part, impossible to identify.
It was suggested that the steel mast may have washed up next to the blocks from the George B Balfour, as It's only about 800m away, as the ship transporting the blocks would undoubtably have been wood.
It's a dark and not very nice dive.
N50 42 675 E 00 10 416
On Thursday, 18th February 1904, the barque—or possibly barge—named Mabel Maud from Rochester, captained by Smith, was en route from London to Chichester. Following a brief stop at Newhaven, it departed in the morning but swiftly returned to Newhaven with the crew of the fishing lugger Sanfoin, S41, owned by Captain E. Gillam of Shoreham.
The Sanfoin had collided with the Mabel Maud and sank at 10:15, approximately three miles west of the harbour and about two miles off Portobello. The Sanfoin's three-man crew managed to board the Mabel Maud before their vessel went down. The Mabel Maud incurred only minor damage.
Although the Shipwreck Index records the 'Sanfoim' (sic) as having sunk near Cuckmere, all reports indicate its sinking occurred to the west of Newhaven.
Nothing more than some scraps of metal left scattered about. They did a good job blowing it up!
Yeah I probably should have started a diary about 20 years ago but I didn't. I'll try and keep this updated..
The content on YouTube represents years of diving by myself, Jamie, and Magnum
Owned by Mr. Martin Hitchens of Plymouth, the Benevolent was already in difficulty after developing a leak while transporting iron from Cardiff to Hamburg. Then to really ruin their day, collided with another unknown vessel. A pilot lugger rescued the crew and brought them ashore at Hastings beach.
There was a survey held on the Benevolent in 1842 which states it was built in 1802 by a Mr Dennis in Ilfracombe and 89 tons.
The Benevolent doesn't show up in Lloyds until 1808, owned, and I think Captained, by a Mr Livoring of Ilfracombe. Changed ownership around 1821 to someone called Hooper who then sold on to its final owner, Mr Hitchens in 1845.
I can find no information on the Benevolent and possibly there were two ships with the same name as it's listed as 89 tons and also 103 tons, although still listed as built 1802 Ilfracombe!?
It had a few miles on the clock by the time it sank in 1853 and possibly it was on it's last legs by that point.
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