Maritime record MDO20210 - Saratoga (Admiralty MVF No 14)

Ex Admiralty MVF No 14, sunk under tow. Very little remains on the bottom

Vertical datum: Not known
Horizontal datum: WGS 84
Quality of fix: Surveyed with DGPD and found by multibeam.
Charted as SARATOGA, 'entire wreck', in the Marine zone. <1>

'Ex-Admiralty MFV No.104 (`43). Sank whilst under tow. Wreck located in 22m by a fishing vessel which snagged its nets, causing part of the wheelhouse to come free. DECCA position (SW chain) Red (G) 0.30; Purple (G) 57.10' <1>

Note numbering discrepancy.

Vessel structure:

Lies in position 50°35.93 N, 002°21'.40W, in a general depth of 22m. It lies orientated to 0°
Sonar dimensions: 2 x 1.4m
Is described as 'debris with two main contacts' following a 2009 multi-beam survey, suggesting that it is severely broken up. <3>

NRHE from here
1= < http://www.wrecksite.eu/ukhoDetails.aspx?18704 > Accessed 21-JUL-2010 by subscription only.
2 = Larn
3 = < http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?10143 > Accessed 21-JUL-2010, certain information by subscription only.
4 = <http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/1981%20Casualties%20to%20Vessels%20and%20Accidents%20to%20Men.pdf > Accessed 21-JUL-2010
5 = Compiler comment 21-JUL-200

Built: 1943
Dimensions given in a report after her sinking are 61.5 x 17.6 x 23 feet
Source 2 gives her dimensions as 18.59 x 5.49m
Both sources give her tonnage as 53 grt.
Propulsion: Screw-driven oil engine.
Construction material: Wood
Owner is not known. <3> citing <1>>

Source 3 gives the alternative name of SARATOGO

No more information about the vessel can be foundand perhaps curiously, the vessel is not listed as a loss for the year 1981 in source 4.

As she was under tow, perhaps this almost 40-year-old fishing vessel was at the end of its useful life and en route for breaking up. <5>

<1> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<2> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1999, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (3rd Edition), 157 p118 (Monograph). SWX1.

<3> https://www.wrecksite.eu/Wrecksite.aspx, Accessed 21-JUL-2010 (Digital archive). SDO20096.

<4> Marine Accident Investigation Branch, < http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/1981%20Casualties%20to%20Vessels%20and%20Accidents%20to%20Men.pdf >, Accessed 21-JUL-2010 (Digital archive). SDO20136.

<5> NRHE Compiler's comments, 21-JUL-2010 (Verbal communication). SDO19863.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1521463 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 14 2023 7:35PM