Press release September 8, 2016

HMS Warrior

The last shipwreck from the Battle of Jutland 1916, the British cruiser HMS Warrior, was found on August 24, 2016 in the northern North Sea in 83 meters of water a century after it sank. HMS Warrior was heavily damaged during the battle in which 71 crew members lost their lives.

The surviving crew of 743 were transferred to HMS Engadine, who also tried to tow HMS Warrior back to Britain. Because of the extensive damage and bad weather HMS Warrior had to be abandoned, and it sank at an unknown position in the North Sea during the 1st of June 1916. The find was made on an expedition with M/S Vina from JD- Contractor A/S for Sea War Museum in Thyborøn in collaboration with Dr. Innes McCartney, Bournemouth University, UK.

One of the tasks of the expedition was to find HMS Warrior. Hence, the search was based on the towed route and the official positions of the abandonment. In total 30 wrecks on the route were found and investigated, and HMS Warrior was the 27th wreck investigated. It was found at a distance of 19-27 miles from the official positions. A multibeam survey of the wreck was conducted and video recordings were made with a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) circumventing the wreck.

The huge wreck is lying well preserved in an upside down orientation. The ROV-footage starts at the stern of the vessel, where the two large ship propellers are visible together with the very thick shafts. Along the side of the ship in several places it is possible to see the deck, where the base of several of the big gun turrets are visible. One of the ship’s masts is lying on the seabed on the ships’ port side. The mast was broken during the collision with the seabed, and the top part of the mast is folded under the wreckage. Thus, it was quite evident that the ship had hit the seabed upside down, and that the ship had sunk down onto the mast.

Along the side of the ship was also the remains of one of the ship's boats, where both the propeller and the shaft could be seen. Out by the bow of the ship the big anchors remained in position and a number of port holes were visible. A number of large fishing trawls were stuck in the wreckage, and at one point the ROV's umbilical was wedged under a large wreck section.

On the footage you can see that there is not much fouling on the wreck. There is however a lot of cod and other fish in and around the wreck. The depth to the seabed is 83 meters and the minimum depth above the top of the wreck is 68 meters.

Unlike the other wrecks from the Battle of Jutland, which show varying degrees of environmental damage and commercial salvage, HMS Warrior remains as an untouched time capsule with all of its contents still present, entombed in the upturned hull. The old armoured ship is for now, at least retaining its itegrity and is the last Jutland wreck in an untouched condition.

Attached is a scan of the wreck. On our YouTube channel both an animation and an underwater video CAN BE FOUND. This is also available for the media and others free of charge provided that Sea War Museum Jutland and JD-Contractor A/S is duly credited.

See our multibeam scanning of the wreckage on:  

http://youtu.be/IBPyP0MYjwEyoutu.be/IBPyP0MYjwE

See our video sequences from the wreckage on:   

http://youtu.be/WoGee92T3ec

http://youtu.be/1jPOE3kdwcU


On September 8, 2016

Gert Normann Andersen
Director
Sea War Museum Jutland &
JD-Contractor A/S

Nybovej 9
7500 Holstebro

Mail: gna@jdcon.dk
Mobil: 23254011

Web: www.jdcon.dk
Web: www.seawarmuseum.dk
Web: www.facebook.com/seawarmuseum.dk

Press release August 17, 2016

UC30

Deadly submarine found in busy shipping channel - the position is being kept a secret (for now)!

German submarine with 18 intact mines and 6 torpedoes discovered in Danish waters - in the middle of a busy shipping channel.

The submarine was found by diving company JD-Contractor A/S during their search and registration of WWI war wrecks in Danish waters, performed for the Sea War Museum in Thyborøn, Jutland.

Danish Television station DR3 was present during the final verification of the wreck. This occurred in connection with research for the major live television event "Live from the Depths", together with a television crew led by Lars Ostenfeld from Danmarks Radio.

The wreck of the German submarine has not previously been discovered or studied.

The submarine lies in relatively shallow waters, but there is a navigable depth over the wreck.

The submarine disappeared with its entire crew during World War I, but it was believed that it had sunk in another location - which is why its discovery came as a surprise to both the Sea War Museum and the diving team from JD-Contractor A/S

The discovery will be reported to the Danish authorities, after which it is up to them to decide what to do with the wreck.

Gert Normann from the Sea War Museum believes that the authorities will initially mark the wreck and deem it a restricted area. They can then decide whether it should be cleared, or whether the mines and torpedoes may be removed from the wreck so that it can remain at the bottom of the navigation channel as a war grave.

When the authorities have decided on what to do with the wreck, the Sea War Museum in Thyborøn will tell more about this unusual find - and where in the future it will be possible to experience the story of this dramatic event.

DR3 was present when the identity of the submarine was verified, and they will screen a documentary about this unusual find and the story behind it.

Watch an animation of our multibeam scan of the wreckage on: https://youtu.be/5RACnIpJr2o

See our video sequence from the wreckage on: https://youtu.be/lshYU6q3S0w

 

Director Gert Normann Andersen

Sea War Museum Jutland and JD-Contractor A/S

Nybovej 9, 7500 Holstebro

Mail: gna@jdcon.dk

Mobil: +45 23254011

Web: www.jdcon.dk

Web: www.seawarmuseum.dk

Web: www.facebook.com/seawarmuseum.dk