We are off to dive the City of Waterford

a steamship that sank off Beachy Head in Sussex in 1949 which offers divers something sizeable, easy to navigate and a little out of the ordinar.

 

If the Vis is good we should have a great dive as there is loads to see as the wreck is pretty much still boat shaped.

 

 

 

It wasnt until 1946, when she was sold by the Clyde Shipping Co, that the 25-year-old steamer Skerries II was renamed City of Waterford.

 

Built in 1921 at the Caldon Ship & Engineering works in Dundee, the Skerries II was 270ft long with a beam of 37ft, driven by three-cylinder triple-expansion engines with two boilers giving her 196hp. She went to work on the Liverpool to Waterford route, carrying general cargo and 40 passengers to and from Ireland with no problems.

 

In World War Two, she steamed from Cork to Glasgow carrying livestock and other foods to ease Britains rationing problems. She was fitted out with a small gun and several machine guns to beat off submarine attacks, but seems to have avoided any contact, despite the many U-boats in the Irish Sea.

 

Captain McNeill did not have the same luck with German aircraft, however. Skerries II was spotted just before dusk in December, 1942, by a Heinkel 111k. It immediately mounted a low-level attack with bombs and machine-gun fire.

 

The German bomber pilot seemed surprised by the amount of fire returned by the steamer and pulled sharply away. In the dark Captain McNeill slipped into Rosslare Harbour, and later that night made his way to Cork. For this, he was awarded the MBE. He and his crew were credited with shooting down the bomber, though no wreckage was ever found.

 

In 1946 Skerries II was bought by Dublin ship-owner Palgrave, Murphy & Co, which had owned and lost several "City of"ships, and was given her new name. She was kept on the Ireland run, but spread her range to many European ports under Captain Donald MacLean.

On 14 April, 1949, the City of Waterford was heading from Antwerp to Cork with 1000 tons of general cargo when she ran into thick fog about 12 miles west of Beachy Head.

Unfortunately, in that same fog bank but going the other way was a much bigger ship, the Marpessa, a 5500 ton Greek steamer. After the collision, the City of Waterford took very little time to sink, but her crew were all picked up safely