Maritime record MWX5146 - Michelle

A motor fishing vessel that sank off Handfast point in 1984. Small British fishing vessel which capsized and foundered 3.75 miles NE of Handfast Point while attempting to lift a heavy object from the seabed. She was an engine-driven vessel.

A motor fishing vessel that sank off Handfast point in 1984. (1) Vessel was seen to capsize when apparently trying to lift a heavy object from the seabed.

The building date for this vessel is an estimate based on an average age at wrecking of twenty years. This average is derived from those vessels wrecked on the Dorset coast whose age at wrecking is known.

Vertical datum: LAT
Horizontal datum: WGS 84
Quality of fix: Position precisely known, wreck found by echo-sounder.
Charted as MICHELLE 'entire wreck' in the Marine zone.

Vessel structure / Archaeological remains:

Lies in position 50°41.72N, 001°51.88W, at a depth of 8.2 in general depth of 11m. (2)

In 1988 she was reported to be 'well covered and rather broken'. (2)

Documentary evidence for the vessel:

'Seen to capsize when apparently trying to raise something heavy from seabed.' (2 & 3, citing Lloyds List 27.4.84)

When, where built and by whom are not known.
Propulsion: Screw-driven oil engine (3)
LBD: 9.8 x 3 m (1); 9.75 x 3.05m (3)
Tonnage: 3 (2)
No details can be found about her crew or owners.

No further information about the vessel could be found.

Date of loss qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
Lloyds List 27.04.1984 ®

<1> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 1030 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<2> https://www.wrecksite.eu/Wrecksite.aspx, 19513, Accessed 22-JUL-2010 (Digital archive). SDO20096.

<3> 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.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1521529 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 20 2024 1:44PM