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| Vessel Type: |
Motor Coaster |
Location: | Co. Antrim |
| Date of Loss: | 8th October 1965 | Place: | Belfast Lough |
| Cause of Loss: | Sank while under tow | Boat Dive from: | Whitehead or Bangor |
| Charted Depth: | 10m | Irish O.S. Map: | Discovery Series No. 15 |
| Height of Wreck: | Admiralty Chart No: | 1753 | |
| Hull Material: | Steel | Latitude: | 54 43 34 North |
| Type of Seabed: | Longitude: | 05 43 25 West | |
| Average Visibility: | 3 - 8m | Diving Experience: | Experienced Novice |
| No image listed. |
Diving Information:
- Lies 0.5 miles off Kilroot.
- Badly broken up as she was dispersed by explosives due to being a hazard to shipping.
- Launch from Carrickfergus at any time, or Whitehead 2 hours either side of High Water as slip is high and dry at other times.
- Dive 1 hour before High Water Belfast.
Historical Information:
- Built 1943 by John Harker Ltd., Knottingley, for the Ministry of Transport as "Empire Rancher".
- She grossed 332 tons, measured 148.0 x 21.7 x 9.6ft. and was powered by a 5 cylinder 2SCSA oil engine from Crossley Brothers, Manchester.
- Renamed "Normanby Hall" by the Anglo-Danubian Transport Co.
- On 08/06/65 she stranded on Tara Point in fog, whilst on a voyage from Birkenhead to Belfast with a cargo of flour and animal feed.
- Later refloated, but sank under tow to Carrickfergus, 0.5 miles off Kilroot, though one source places her 0.5 miles and 233 degrees from the North Briggs Buoy - the opposite side of Belfast Lough.
Source Publications:
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"Cambrian
Coasters"
|
by
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R.S. Fenton |
| World Ship Society 1989 - ISBN: 0905617525 | ||
|
"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 Ulster Coast"
|
by
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Ian Wilson Impact Printing 1997 - ISBN: 0948154993 |
| Impact Printing 1997 - ISBN: 0948154993 | ||
|
"Underwater
Ireland Guide to Irish Dive Sites"
|
by
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Irish Underwater Council |
| CFT 1999 - ISBN: 0948283025 |
Other Sources:
|
Gordon
Leathem B.E.M.
|
-
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From his private notebook (2008) |
|
Michael
Hamilton
|
-
|
Castlereagh SAC (1997) |
|
Peter
Steel
|
-
|
North Irish Lodge, Islandmagee (1999) |
|
Royal
Navy
|
-
|
Hydrographic Department (1970) |
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Last update - 08-Apr-2008
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A page from "www.irishwrecksonline.net" ©