Steve Jones: Deep Wrecks of Malin Head
Lying along the navigation route of wartime convoys, the crystal clear waters off Malin Head at the northern tip of Ireland are the final resting place for seldom explored, super-size shipwrecks. Given the historical significance of these wrecks, the immediate question is why are they seldom explored. That’s for two reasons: Malin is exposed to the North Atlantic weather, and the wrecks are all deep. These images are of four of the signature wrecks: the battleship HMS Audacious - a super dreadnought that was the first British Battleship to be sunk in WW1, the tanker/cargo ship Empire Heritage which went down with a cargo of Sherman tanks in WWII and two vast Ocean Liners lost in WWI: the SS Justicia and the SS Laurentic. The Laurentic is the shallowest lying at 40 metres/130 feet, but the other 3 lie much deeper at between 65 and 72 metres (215-235 feet).
Other than the physical demands of operating this deep, the biggest challenge was actually composing images that could do these staggeringly vast wrecks justice. We only had 1 dive on each, so therefore around 25 to 30 minutes on the bottom for the deeper wrecks. I gathered as much knowledge as possible of the layout of the wrecks beforehand and as always the skill of the model in these shots, Steve Henshall was also paramount as he just knows instinctively where to be and when. I used a Nikon D4 in a SEACAM housing and shot with only natural light, really making use of the D4’s low light capabilities (often shooting at ISO9000, F2.8 and 1/20th sec!). Malin Head remains one of the most special places I’ve ever dived. The sailors that died on these ships during the two world wars made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the vital supply routes between the UK and USA remained open.
To see more of Steve’s work, please visit his website.
On September 8th 1944, U-Boat U-482 fired a single torpedo into the SS Empire Heritage, which was carrying 16,000 tons of fuel.
The catastrophic explosion sank the ship so quickly that no distress signals were sent.
Sherman tanks lie entangled with trucks, spread across the wreck and seabed as far as our eyes can see on the Empire Heritage, which lies at 67 metres.
Sinking with huge loss of life, the Empire Heritage was also carrying nearly 2000 tons of vital war supplies including Sherman tanks and trucks.
The liner SS Laurentic was enroute to the USA at the height of WW1 when she struck 2 mines and sunk in 130 feet/40 m of water, killing over 350 of her crew.
In her holds were 43 tons of gold ingots to pay for war supplies, valued then at more than US$ 8 million and now equivalent to a staggering US$ 1.8 billion! This is one of her deck guns.
Recovery of the gold was top priority for the elite Royal Navy dive team “The Tin Openers”, who were already renowned for their exploits penetrating sunken U-Boats.
After an extremely hazardous diving operation they recovered all but 25 bars. These are some of the giant boilers
A further 5 bars were recovered during private salvage operations in the 1930’s but 20 bars still remain unaccounted for, today worth nearly US$ 10 million!
The armoured barbette that housed one of the 5 main gun turrets of HMS Audacious, the first British battleship to be sunk in WW1
Audacious was sunk by a mine, which ignited the magazine. This 4-inch secondary gun was one of sixteen designed to engage fast, manoeuvrable attack boats.
This 23,400 ton battleship had ten of these 13.5 inch main guns.
The 32,234 ton White Star Liner Justicia was used as a troopship in WW1. This image shows the vast foredeck, with capstans pushed up through the collapsing deck.
This magnificent Ocean Liner was capable of carrying 4000 soldiers. This is the view of the bow from the seabed at 235 feet/72 meters.
Whilst heading to New York in July 1918, the unladen Justicia came under attack from UB-64, which fired 4 torpedoes into the liner. This one of the giant anchors.
The following day UB-124 took up the assault, finishing Justicia off with two further torpedoes killing 16 men. It was one of the largest ships sunk in WW1.