Slate Wreck

 

Took a chance on what might have just been more rocks but got lucky and found the remains of a ship. Though that’s probably a stretch since no ship is visible—unless you brush away some sand to reveal a bit of planking. It’s hard, if not impossible, to say what ship it was without any clues. The best clue would be a bell, but if it doesn’t have a name on it, you’re out of luck. You could make an educated guess if there’s a record of a ship carrying slate in the area, but so far nothing has turned up.

Click here for a short film of the site

Bell and bell ends

Vesuvius

 

Launched as Avon February 1870

Depending on what report you read it was 4 miles to 11 miles that the two ships collided.

 

The wreck, or what is left of it, is sitting 3.5 miles from Hastings and with no other wrecks in the area that could possibly be the Vesuvius it's a good bet that what is left on site is in fact the remains of that ship.

The ship has sunk into the sand and after being blown up there is not a huge amount left sticking up, but some remains. The 2 cylinder engine sits up to only 8m below the water at low tide and the prop shaft out the back of the engine leads to the 4 bladed prop. Going forward there is pieces of wreckage poking out the silty seabed and another larger piece of wreck further forward, but nothing is recognisable. Even the boiler in front of the engine has been blown to pieces and pieces of boiler tubes are sticking up.

Not a very inspiring dive but the fact the Vesuvius does not appear in the shipwreck index or Dive Sussex and was lost to history, for me , makes this an interesting site.

Footage of engine

 

Tyro

 

Run down by the steamer Mars, 1869

Ocean Wave

 

Vasilissa Olga

Built by William Pile and partly financed by Hay & Co., which explains why they sometimes appear as the builders, even though they were only the ship’s owners.

The wreck known locally as Clara, lying a short distance from the Balfour, is quite possibly the Olga. Its measured length matches, and it carries two boilers plus a donkey boiler. The vessel is destroyed amidships, which is more consistent with being blown up than with a collision. The engine lies over on its side and is difficult to see. The recorded position also aligns with where the wreck currently rests.

It is therefore more likely to be the Olga than the Clara, as Clara sank off Cornwall. Although she did go down near Hastings at one point, she was patched up and refloated, and her final loss does not match the location or characteristics of this wreck as she was over 90m in length.

No positive id, just a best guess, but certainly not SS Clara

Report on the Clara

Sunderlandships.com

Railings

2 main boilers

Donkey

Bow on its side

FJB barge

 Lost somewhere between the Downs and the Isle of Wight. Harker was the master and she was carrying wheat. Went missing December 1914

Fame

 

Lost February 1831