Maritime record MDO47966 - Marguerita

The possible remains of a Danish fishing drifter which grounded on rocks near First Beach and foundered just to the south-east in 1946 in heavy weather, en route from Milford Haven to Denmark, just one month after being purchased by her final owner. She had served as an Admiralty vessel in both WWI and WWII. Built of wood in Thorne in 1918, she was a steam-driven vessel at the time of her loss. Documentary evidence for the vessel of which these are believed to be the remains, is recorded as 1521051.

The wreck is not listed by the Hydrographic Office but is described by Diver Magazine (1) as lying '40m off Portland Bill'. It is not clear how the vessel found there was identified or precisely where she lies, and for these reasons the documentary evidence for the MARGUERITA is recorded separately as 1521051.

Vessel structure / Archaeological remains:

'40m off Portland Bill... at low tide... its iron propeller and engine casing appear above the waterline... The boiler is quite a [way] from the main propeller and engine... The vessel lies in a relatively sheltered area.' (1)

'At low spring tides her propeller shaft dries out and a boiler survives in the shallows.' (2)

Source 3 shows a photograph of the propeller and boiler parts believed to belong to the MARGUERITA.

Documentary evidence / Vessel history:

'Admiralty wood drifter, steam screw, coal burning. Dandy rigged: foresail and mizzen.' (4)

'First registered at Hull in 1919, she transferred to the Milford Haven register in 1929 and after WWII was sold to a Danish company. Mr Nielson and his crew of six, four of whom were Danish, sailed from Milford Haven against the advice of the Coastguards in extremely rough weather with worse forecast [because] they wanted to spend Christmas at home with their families. On 5th December they reached Newlyn in Cornwall, where two of the men left the ship. Again, against all local advice, they put to sea in heavy weather and this was the last time the vessel was seen before being driven ashore at Portland with the loss of her entire crew.' (2)

She was built as the SPATE H326, and served in WWI under that name. (6)

<1> http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/news, Accessed 15-JUL-2010, Article by Simon Volpe dated 03/07/03 (Serial). SDO20674.

<2> 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.

<3> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1999, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (3rd Edition), 82 (Monograph). SWX1.

<5> Colledge, J J, 1989, Ships of the Royal Navy. Volume 2: navy-built trawlers, drifters, tugs and requisitioned ships from the fifteenth century to the present, 143 (Monograph). SDO20520.

<6> http://www.llangibby.eclipse.co.uk/accidents%20&%20incidents/marguerita.htm, > Accessed 15-JUL-2010 (Digital archive). SDO20675.

<7> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 83 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1521055 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 11 2024 9:35AM