Explorers say they’ve found the wreckage of a British warship that was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I.
Some 524 people, including the ship’s captain, perished when the HMS Hawke went down in the North Sea off the eastern coast of Scotland on Oct. 15, 1914. Seventy crew members survived.
“It’s a big loss of life,” said Kevin Heath, who co-founded the website Lost in Waters Deep, which chronicles naval losses around Scotland by the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy and other countries during the conflict. “She’s a big ship. And it’s one of the first ships lost in World War I.”
A shipwreck hunter, Heath said he found a map in an old German logbook that pointed him to where the sunken vessel could be located, roughly 70 miles east of Fraserburgh.
The nearly 400-foot ship had been taking part in the Allied blockade of Germany when it was torpedoed and sunk in the early days of World War I.
Earlier this month, Heath teamed up with a group of divers called the Gasperados and set out on the dive vessel Clasina in search of the Hawke. While the divers descended more than 350 feet below sea level, Heath waited on the boat.
“We’re sitting there waiting, waiting, waiting. Excited. You know, are they going to say, ‘oh it is a rock’ or ‘it’s not the Hawke’?” he said. “They all come up and say, ‘yeah, there are guns everywhere and the wreck is in very, very good condition.’”
Some of the wood on the deck was still intact, the divers recounted. The team quickly reported the discovery to the UK Hydrographic Office and the Royal Navy, which Heath hopes will give the site a protected status.
Heath said he’ll write about the history of the Hawke as well as profiles of the victims for his website in the coming weeks. After the BBC published a story about the discovery, he said he received around 30 emails from family members of sailors who died on the ship, telling their stories and sharing photographs.
Heath said he’ll also continue to search for other wrecks, though he counts the discovery of the Hawke as one of his more noteworthy finds.
“We’ve got a few wrecks that we’re still looking for,” he said. “I don’t think anything will top finding the HMS Hawke. There’s nothing like that to find now in Scotland.”
Transcript:
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Explorers say they found the wreckage of a British warship that was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I. As NPR’s Joe Hernandez reports, hundreds died when the HMS Hawke went down off the coast of Scotland in 1914.
JOE HERNANDEZ, BYLINE: When Kevin Heath set out to find the HMS Hawke, he began looking through old U.K. Royal Navy and German logbooks. The Hawke was torpedoed by the Germans early in World War I, killing 524 people, including the ship’s captain. Seventy crew members survived. Heath was eager to find the wreckage.
KEVIN HEATH: It’s a big loss of life, which means it’s a big story. She’s a big ship. And it’s, you know, one of the first ships lost in World War I.
HERNANDEZ: Heath found a map in a German logbook that was pivotal in helping him locate the sunken ship some 70 miles off the eastern coast of Scotland. The roughly 400-foot ship had been in the North Sea as part of the allied blockade of Germany during the First World War. Heath teamed up with a group of scuba divers and set out on an expedition earlier this month to find the Hawke. While the divers descended more than 350 feet, Heath waited on the boat.
HEATH: And we’re sitting there waiting, waiting, waiting, excited and everything. Are they going to say, oh, it is a rock or it’s not the Hawke or – they all come up and said, yeah, guns everywhere. You know, and the wreck is in very good condition.
HERNANDEZ: The ship’s guns were visible and some of the wood on the deck was still intact. He quickly reported the discovery to the U.K. Royal Navy and the U.K. Hydrographic Office. Heath, who’s made a hobby of tracking down uncharted shipwrecks, says he had mixed feelings after the find.
HEATH: When these things happen, it’s sort of twofold. It’s great and euphoric, and then you think, oh, what do I do now? I’ve got to find another one.
HERNANDEZ: Heath now plans to write about the discovery, as well as a history of the Hawke and its victims, for his website Lost In Waters Deep, which commemorates crews lost around Scotland during World War I. He said he’s already received about 30 emails from family members of sailors who died on the Hawke telling their stories and sharing photographs. Beyond that, Heath said he’ll continue looking for shipwrecks off the Scottish coast.
HEATH: We got a few wrecks that we’re still looking for. None of them – I don’t think anything will top finding the HMS Hawke. There’s nothing like that to find now in Scotland.
HERNANDEZ: Joe Hernandez, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF TIWA SAVAGE SONG, “LOST TIME”)
