World War One Warship Wreck Identified in Irish Sea After Over a Century

Researchers have successfully identified the wreck site of a World War One warship, HMS Stephen Furness, which lay submerged in the Irish Sea for more than a century. The vessel was struck by a single torpedo from UB-64 on December 13, 1917, leading to its sinking and the loss of 100 crew members, with only 12 sailors surviving. Researchers from Bangor University employed high-resolution sonar data alongside historical records to examine all known wreck sites in the region. This approach made identifying the probable resting place of HMS Stephen a comparatively straightforward exercise. The team noted that this process could easily be replicated elsewhere. The wreck was found at a depth of 90 meters (295ft), approximately 10 miles (16.1km) east of the entrance to Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. It had previously been believed to be the remains of the SS Maja, a Swedish cargo vessel torpedoed with the loss of nine lives a month before the war concluded. The team now believes they have located the SS Maja’s remains a few miles further south. By piecing together all available evidence and information, the research team was able to not only identify the ship’s likely resting place but also reconstruct some tragic aspects of the events that followed. The team determined that on the afternoon of December 13, 1917, HMS Stephen Furness was in the northern Irish Sea, en route to Liverpool for repairs, when it was hit by a single torpedo fired from UB-64. The submarine had been patiently observing the Irish Sea for several days, awaiting such an opportunity. The torpedo’s impact caused an explosion, resulting in the vessel sinking within three minutes. Until this discovery, the location of the attack and the final resting place of HMS Stephen Furness had remained a mystery. The team also uncovered that approximately one month after the sinking, four of the crew members who perished in the attack washed ashore along the coast of north Wales, nearly a hundred miles to the south. Archived meteorological data was utilized to understand how this occurred and to investigate what might happen in other similar scenarios. New information from this discovery will enable researchers to explore beyond simple narratives of blockade and U-Boat warfare, allowing them to engage directly with the people involved, the lives they led, and the sacrifices they made. This discovery is part of a project named Unpath’d Waters, which has adopted new approaches to investigate shipwreck sites. The team informed relevant authorities of the potential discovery to ensure the wreck’s protection. Dr. Mike Roberts, Research and Development Manager at Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences, stated: “Overall, the research highlights our significant lack of understanding as to what most shipwrecks in UK waters actually represent, which is also a problem at the global scale.” He added: “This project clearly demonstrates the incredible potential our disparate and different collections of information and material have when adopting a collective multidisciplinary approach.” Barney Sloane from Historic England commented: “The likely identification of HMS Stephen Furness is a brilliant and moving example of the potential of the UK’s maritime heritage data and a testimony to the Unpath’d Waters’ team’s collaboration and excellent detective work.” He further remarked: “This result is a remarkable example of just how important such an endeavor will prove to be.”