Irish Wrecks On-Line - Daybreak SS (No. 250)

*Vessel Type:*	Steamer	*Location:*	Co. Down
*Date of Loss:*	24th December 1917	*Place:*	South Rock
*Cause of Loss:*	Torpedoed	*Boat Dive from:*	Portaferry or Strangford
*Charted Depth:*	53m	*Irish O.S. Map:*	Discovery Series No. 21
*Height of Wreck:*	5m	*Admiralty Chart No:*	2093
*Hull Material:*	Steel	*Latitude (GPS):*	54 25.293 North
*Type of Seabed:*	Mud	*Longitude (GPS):*	05 20.837 West
*Average Visibility:*	5 - 8m	*Diving Experience:*	Very Experienced

No image listed.

Diving Information:

Lies 1 mile East of South Rock.

Slowly collapsing.

Stern intact. Bow smashed/missing due to explosion.

Broken amidships. Bridge almost intact.

Thought to have had a self-defence gun on the bow but this has never been found.

Ideally a hard boat dive with wreck finding equipment.

Dive 1 hour before High Water Belfast.

Historical Information:

Owned by Scarisbrick Steamship Co., she was built 1911 by W. Gray & Co.
Powered by triple-expansion engines, generating 330nhp, giving a top speed of 10 knots.
She measured 340 x 48.5 x 22.6ft., and grossed 3,238 tons.
Had previously survived a surface attack by a U-boat in the Arctic Sea on 1st November 1916, beating it off with her own defense gun.
Twenty-one crew members, including the captain, died when she was finally sunk by torpedo from U-87 on Christmas Eve, 1917, one mile east of the South Rock Lightship.
Lightship Keepers say she sank in less than five minutes, the torpedoe taking off most of her bow.

Source Publications:

"Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam 1824 - 1962"

by
Charles Hocking

London Stamp Exchange 1989 - ISBN: 0948130474

"Irish Wrecks Database"

by
Roy Stokes & Liam Dowling

"Shipwreck Index of Ireland"

by
Richard & Bridget Larn

Lloyd's Register - Fairplay Ltd 2002 - ISBN: 1900839970

"Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast 932 - 1997"

by
Edward J. Bourke

Edward J. Bourke 1998 - ISBN: 0952302713

"Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast 1105 - 1993"

by
Edward J. Bourke

Edward J. Bourke 1994 - ISBN: 0952302705

"Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast 1582 - 2000"

by
Edward J. Bourke

Edward J. Bourke 2000 - ISBN: 0952302721

"Shipwrecks of the Ulster Coast"

by
Ian Wilson

Impact Printing 1997 - ISBN: 0948154993

Other Sources:

Michael Montgomery

-
Castlereagh SAC (2006)

Norman Woods

-
Portstewart SAC (2000)

Michael Hamilton

-
Castlereagh SAC (1997)

Last update - 10-Jul-2006