Bangor Uni Survey North Wales German Submarine Wreck

Over the next two years, marine scientists from Bangor University will be surveying the coast of Wales which will include surveys of shipwrecks located around the Welsh coast.

One wreck in particular is of great local interest, that of a German submarine sunk 10 miles off Bardsey Island at the tip of the Llŷn Peninsula on Christmas Day 1917. The German submarine was rammed by a British naval vessel shortly after it had sunk a cargo vessel nearby. The wreck of the U-87, which was lost with all 43 hands, has already been explored by scientists from Bangor University.

Sonar images of the historic wrecks, taken from the University’s research vessel, Prince Madog, will reveal how the tides and currents have removed or deposited sediments around the wrecks on the seabed. The oceanographers can learn how the presence of structures on the seabed can change how sediments are carried in the water or deposited over a long period of time, this will help Wales’ growing marine renewable energy sector.

The research is also expected to benefit the heritage and tourism sectors in Wales by enhancing the understanding and appreciation of Wales’ rich maritime history, associated with major conflicts of the twentieth century.

Deanna Groom, the Royal Commission’s Senior Investigator (Maritime) said:

“We’re really thankful for the surveys which Bangor University are undertaking. They are allowing us – for the first time in perhaps 100 years- to actually see the relicts of the Great War as fought at sea just off our own coast. These are the underwater, out-of-sight memorials, rarely visited, poignant, thought-provoking, resonate reminders of the cost in lives of the life during the wartime. Encounters between merchant ships and enemy submarines, such as U-87, are by far the greatest cause of the 170 losses in Welsh waters –that is, in comparison to losses caused by ships setting off contact mines. Each site has a moving story of its own which we are hoping to explore and retell, with the help of the museums and archives of Wales, as part of our partnership project.”