Carinthia Wreck

Field Value
Carinthia Wreck Location
Marine Coordinates (DMM) 		55 14.851 N,9 17.983 W
Latitude, Longitude
Decimal Degrees
  • Latitude: 55.247510
  • Longitude: -9.299710
Name CARINTHIA
Type liner
Date Sunk Jun 7, 1940
Original Source BVLS 1939-45, 5; Hocking 1989, 123; Larn & Larn 2002; Lloyd's List 39, 281, Wednesday 2nd October 1940; McGill 2010, 74-7; Williams 1997, 99-100; www.uboat.net.
WRECK MAP LOADING ... 55 14.851 N,9 17.983 W
Carinthia on Wreck Map Carinthia Wreck on Google Map
Wreck No: W07205, Place of Loss: Tory Island, Co Donegal / Bloody Foreland, offshore 43 miles W, Source of Coordinate: GSI Wreck Data, Description: The Carinthia, formerly known as the Servia, was a 20,277-ton steel steamship owned by the Cunard White Star Line and built in 1925 by Vickers Armstrong, of Barrow-in-Furness. It was propelled by eight-cylinder, triple-expansion steam turbines capable of attaining 18 knots in speed and could carry 1,650 passengers in three classes. She was one of a class of five ships built for Cunard to operate on transatlantic routes, the others being the Scythia, Samaria, Laconia and Franconia. During the 1930s the Carinthia was also engaged in cruising. When the hostilities broke out in September 1939, the vessel was commissioned as an armed merchant crusier, equipped with eight 6-inch and two 3-inch deck guns, under the command of Captain J.F.B. Barrett. On 7 June 1940, while on patrol on the western approaches, she was torpedoed by U-46 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Engelbert Endrass. The stricken vessel remained afloat long enough to allow the evacuation of the crew, except for two officers and two ratings who were killed in the initial attack. She was towed by escorting vessels for Glasgow, but eventually sank off the coast of Donegal. The wreck of the Carinthia measures 169m in length, 38m in width and 10m in maximum height, with an average height of 7.6m. It is orientated roughly E–W. For the observant diver, patches of grey paint on the side of the hull would suggest the wreck is fairly recent, rather than 70 years old, and on that basis might be expected to be fairly intact. However, the whole ship has concertinaed over to starboard and collapsed down, deck upon deck, so that the wreckage sits only 8m high in its entirety. All of the glass in the portholes on the port side of the vessel is smashed, which suggests that it was depth-charged and this, combined with the ravages of the Atlantic swells, might account for her devastated condition. The end result of this collapse is that the deck has a list of about 35 degrees. Her bow is twisted off somewhat and her forward bow area and the 6-inch guns have slewed to point aft. Most of the mid-ships upper decks are gone, leaving a clean ‘deck’ area across the ship, around and aft of what was the bridge area. Further aft, as the wreck drops to the stern area, a huge dark void can be seen like a ‘window’ inside the hull, and even the strongest diver’s torch cannot make out any decks inside this void, which means most of them must have collapsed internally. It presents an eerie, uninviting darkness in 112m of sea water. The port side of her stern stands up well, to about 10m, whereas the starboard side is level with the seabed. GSI Wreck No_131 ----------------------------

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FAQ

Where is the CARINTHIA wreck located?

The CARINTHIA wreck is located at coordinates 55 14.851 N,9 17.983 W.

When did the CARINTHIA sink?

The CARINTHIA sank on Jun 7, 1940.

What type of wreck is the CARINTHIA?

The CARINTHIA is classified as a liner.

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