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Breda: Ardmucknish Bay, Firth Of Lorn

Steamship (20th Century)

Site Name Breda: Ardmucknish Bay, Firth Of Lorn

Classification Steamship (20th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Ledaig; Ardmuckmish Bay; Breda

Canmore ID 102573

Site Number NM83NE 8001

NGR NM 89606 36743

Datum WGS84 - Lat/Long

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/102573

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Argyll And Bute
  • Parish Maritime - Argyll And Bute
  • Former Region Strathclyde
  • Former District Maritime
  • Former County Not Applicable

Archaeology Notes

NM83NE 8001 8960 3674

N56 28.55 W5 25

NLO: Ardmucknish Bay [name centred NM 890 375]

Firth of Lorn [name centred NM 69 19].

Formerly entered as NM83NE 9201.

BREDA, has been extensively salvaged and wire swept.

(Transits illustrated).

Source: Butland & Siedlecki, BSAC Wreck Register, Scotland 2, 1987.

Quality of fix = HSA

Evidence = Swept by Wire (Two Ship/Boat Drift/Drag Sweep)

Horizontal Datum = OGB

General water depth = 26

Orientation of keel/wreck = 080/260

Circumstances of Loss Details

-----------------------------

The BREDA was bombed and sunk by German aircraft.

Surveying Details

-----------------------------

The vessel was sunk by air attack. The site was drift swept clear at 5.1 metres but fouled the sweep at 6 metres. The least depth by echosounder was 7.9 metres. To the seabed is 27.4 metres. There is little scouring. The wreck is lying with its keel on an orientation of 080/260 degrees. The vessel is still in one piece.

Report by HMS SHACKLETON, 22 August 1959.

The site was wire swept clear at 5.4 metres but fouled sweep at 6.1 metres. The least depth by echosounder was 8.22 metres. To the seabed is 22.8 metres. There is no scour. One sweeping sinker distinctly fouled a large piece of wreckage at 6.1 metres.

Report by HMS SHACKLETON, 25 July 1960.

The site was again swept and it cleared at 8.22 metres, but fouled at 8.5 metres. The site was wire sweep to a least echosounder depth of 9.1 metres. To the seabed is 21.9 metres. The wreck twice cleared at 8.22, but three firm fouls were obtained at 8.5 metres. These were examined by divers. The highest point appears to be remains of after superstructure. A mast was sighted lying athwartships on the well deck.

Report by HMS SHACKLETON, 31 July 1961.

30 May 1967. An article in Under Water magazine (June 1967) featured a report by P Rodgers, which stated that the wreck was visited by members of Edinburgh BSAC in July 1966 and again by Perth BSAC in 1967 who found it to be lying with its stern in 30 metres of water. The bows are in 24.3 metres. The cargo at the time of loss was general, tobacco, airplanes (3 biplanes and 33 de Haviland moths), NAAFI goods, etc.

16 October 1967 An article by Richard Larn in Underwater magazine Aug/Sept 1967, states that the holds are silted up and full of the hard cement cargo which has been spread about.

2 December 1968. War Risk Insurance: details state that the vessel (the hull) was sold many years back. Also salvage has taken place on the cargo.

21 July 1970. The propellor is now missing. It was removed by D Tye in 1968/69.

10 November 1975. The wreck's position is given as 56 28 33N, 005 25 00W. The navy succeeded without explosives to raise 3 engines from the aeroplanes. The wreck stands in 27.4 metres at the stern (flooding neaps) and is heavily silted.

Report by R P Webb, 12 September 1975.

30 April 1976. The wreck is reported to be lying upright. The bows face east. The hull is intact. Three de Haviland Tiger Moths engines were recovered from number 1 and 2 holds.

Report by NAC sub aqua club from expedition in April 1976 newsletter.

9 March 1984. The site was dived on in 1979. The vessel is now very much broken up. It stands 7 metres high in a general depth of 26 metres (stern in 30 metres, bow in 24 metres).

Report by S Humphrey.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

(Classified as steel M[otor] V[essel], with general cargo: date of loss cited as 24 December 1940). Breda: this vessel was bombed, beached, and finally sunk under tow in Ardmucknish Bay. Capt. Fooy.

Registration: Rotterdam. Built 1921. 6941grt. Length: 121m. Beam: 18m.

(Location of loss cited as N56 28.55 W5 25.08).

I G Whittaker 1998.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A053 'various bottles': from seabed.

NMRS, MS/829/32.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A344 2 2v lead acid batteries, part of gas mask (damaged): from seabed.

NMRS, MS/829/33.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A536 2 glass bottles: from seabed

A583 part of navigation map [chart], 12ins by 18ins: from seabed

A926 2 glass bottles: from seabed.

NMRS, MS/829/34.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A1049 fire hose fitment: from seabed

A1072 5 bottles, from seabed

A1149 1 toothbrush, from seabed

A1168 hinge, pipe valve, spoon, lamp bracket, bannister bracket: from seabed

A1505 5 toothbrushes, 3 handshavers: from seabed

A1662 1 bottle, 1 pot: from seabed

A1708 2 glass jars: from seabed

A1868 3 tiles: from seabed

A2187 1 top half of broken vinegar bottle: from seabed by stern [described in detail]

A2229 4 pages of an atlas: from seabed

A2282 1 crucible: from seabed

A2560 1 tile: from seabed

A2616 1 beer bottle, from seabed

A2714 'hundreds' of pages of atlas (retains colour): from seabed

A2722 telephone handset (black): from seabed, port side, midships

A2726 1 small clear bottle, 1 terracotta tile, 7 discs (bakelite or similar), 2 red plastic tops (for cosmetics): [received incomplete]

A2770 1 gas mask, 6 bottles, 1 pot, 1 part tppthpast tube: from seabed

A2911 1 toothbrush: from seabed

A2915 1 brass razor and box, 1 bakelite razor, 1 piece brass: from seabed

A2929 1 leather sandal: from seabed

A2974 4 leather diary covers: from seabed

A3192 1 govt issue respirator, 1 wooden sheave with bronze coke [sic.], 1 bronze hydrosmatic [hydrostatic] trigger, 2 brown glass beer bottles, 1 floor tile [record received incomplete]: from seabed

A3217 1 fire extinguisher from Tiger Moth aircraft: from seabed

A3351 1 test tube, 1 Y-shaped tube: from seabed

A3501 1 broken teacup, 1 electric insulator: from seabed

A3523 1 pressure gauge case, aircraft parts, including piston, cylinder heads, exhaust mainifold, identification plate, windscreen, compass, pressure gauge [report received incomplete]: from seabed

A3582 1 sauce bottle and domestic tile [detailed descriptions given but report received incomplete]: from seabed

A4081 4 plates, 2 cups, 2 saucers: from seabed

A4176 2 glass bottles: from seabed

A4183 1 altimeter, 1 deadlight, 1 air speed indicator: from seabed.

NMRS, MS/829/35.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A4495 1 porthole, 1 wheel, 2 batteries, 3 leather soles, 4 bike tyres, 1 jar, 1 plate, 1 bottle, 2 saucers, 1 cup, 7 tiles.

NMRS, MS/829/77.

This impressive general cargo steamship of 6941 tons grt and 4387 tons nrt was built in 1921 by the New Waterway Shipbuilding Co at Schiedam (near Rotterdam). She was registered in Amsterdam to the Koninkl. Nederl. Stoomb. Maats. NV (Royal Netherlands Steamship Co). She was, unusually, turbine-powered to give a speed of 11.8 knots. Her two double-reduction turbines were built by Metropolitan Vickers of Manchester and geared to a single propeller. They drew steam from four boilers which were coal-fired but were converted to burn oil.

The published photographs record a large and full-formed ship of basically 'three island' type with a large superstructure, prominent bridge and poop accommodation block. The bridge forms a distinct structure and there is a single tall funnel. The stem is straight and the stern of 'cruiser' form, while a complex array of cargo-handling gear is based around two massive goalposts (forward and aft). There were five hatches, one of them (no. 3) situated between the bridge and the engine room. Other storerooms were situated within the hull, and a 'heavy' stern gun was mounted on the emergency steering position (aft) at the outbreak of war. Four lifeboats hung amidships and aft for the crew of 37 and up to 16 passengers; the photographs record the provision of further boats.

The ship remained in (apparently profitable) service for nearly twenty years before being bombed in the deep water of Oban Roads (presumably around NM 81 32) on 23 December 1940. The ship had come under the control of the P and O Line (presumably when Holland fell to the Germans) and was then being formed into a convoy for East Africa, India and Pakistan. Her cargo was varied and unusual, to say the least, including copper ingots, bulk goods (cement), aircraft (presumably disassembled), packaged goods (tobacco and cigarettes) and military stores (aircraft and vehicle spares, crockery and rubber-soled sandals). The most unusual items carried were stocks of banknote paper and nine dogs and ten horses (the latter said to belong to the Aga Khan).

Bombs delivered from He-111 aircraft at high altitude straddled the ship, leaving her dead in the water, creating prominent depressions in the sides amidships and starting the seams to allow a continuous inflow of water. The ship was towed into Ardmucknish Bay in an attempt to beach her, but this proved unsuccessful. The passengers were put off by boat and the horses allowed to swim ashore before the ship sank on the edge of a prominent underwater shelf in about 6m depth of water, subsequently settling back down the slope.

Attempts at immediate salvage were also unavailing although some copper ingots were recovered in 1943. Her masts remained visible at low water until the wreck was wire-swept in 1961, the goalpost masts and superstructure being levelled and removed. Her propeller was recovered (in pieces and with the use of explosives) in 1968 and various other items have since been lifted (included three aircraft engines in 1975).

Since the mid-1960's, this large, light, substantially-intact and easily accessible wreck has become what is probably the most popular recreational diving site in Scotland. It forms a northern counterpart to that of the James Egan Layne which sank in wartime under similar circumstances near Plymouth. It is usually buoyed at more than one location, and a small memorial plaque on the wreck records a fatal accident. The wreck also supports a rich and varied assemblage of marine life, anemones, tunicates and featherworms being prominent.

The wreck is upright on a seabed of soft silt, with the stern in 30m of water and the bows (to the E) in about 24m. Apart from the remains of the cargo, the identifiable features and fittings comprise the lower portions of the superstructure and accommodation blocks, and also of the cargo-handling gear. A large portion of the hull has been cut away to become almost detached at the bows while salvage operations have left a tangled mass of girders, plates and machinery in the engine room.

The wreck is charted as wire-swept to a depth of 8.2m in a general depth (below LWMOST) of between 16 and 27m (sloping towards the W and SW), The nature of the seabed is not specified near the wreck, but is evidently mixed and predominantly sandy across the bay. The extensive area of Ardmucknish Bay is open towards the SW (and deepens gradually in that direction) but is afforded some shelter by the island of Mull. The entrance to Loch Etive (at Ledaig) opens from its SE corner.

(For location plan and photographs in service, see Macdonald 1993, 18 and Macdonald 1993, 50, 51, respectively. For transits, see Moir and Crawford 1994, 124).

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 6 November 2002 [visited on several occasions 1995 to date].

R Macdonald 1993; Moir and Crawford 1994; R and B Larn 1998; Diver 1999.

HO chart no. 2378 (1977, revised to 1992).

Activities

Reference (2011)

Whittaker ID : 353

Name : BREDA

Latitude : 562833

Longitude : 52505

Date Built : 1921

Registration : ROTTERDAM

Type : MV (STEEL)

Tonnage : 6941

Tonnage Code : G

Length : 121

Beam : 18

Draught : 11m

Loss Day : 24

Loss Month : 12

Loss Year : 1940

Comment : Bombed, beached and finally sank under tow in Ardmucknish Bay. Capt. Fooy

Cargo : GENERAL

Reference (19 April 2012)

UKHO Identifier : 002709

Feature Class : Wreck

Wreck Category : Dangerous wreck

State : LIVE

Classification : Unclassified

Position (Lat/long) : 56.47567,-5.41780

Horizontal Datum : ETRS 1989

WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 56.47567,-5.41780

WGS84 Origin : Block Shift

Previous Position : 56.47583,-5.41667

Position Method : Horizontal sextant angle

Position Quality : Precisely known

Depth : 8.2

Depth Method : Swept by wire-drag

Depth Quality : Least depth known

Water Depth : 26

Water Level Effect : Always under water/submerged

Vertical Datum : Lowest Astronomical Tide

Name : BREDA

Type : SS

Flag : DUTCH

Length : 122.8

Beam : 17.7

Draught : 10.7

Orientation : 80.0

Tonnage : 6941

Tonnage Type : Gross

Cargo : GENERAL, AIRCRAFT AND HORSES

Date Sunk : 24/12/1940

Bottom Texture : Mud

Contact Description : Entire wreck

Original Sensor : Reported Sinking

Last Sensor : Diver Sighting

Original Detection Year : 1942

Last Detection Year : 1999

Original Source : Other

Last Source : Other

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