For over 100 years, the wreck of a British warship lay on the seabed, covered by barnacles and seaweed after being struck by a German submarine torpedo during World War I.
The wreck has been off the coast of Scotland for over 100 years. (Photo: Simon Kay).
Professional divers working with the organization Lost In Waters Deep reported that they discovered the wreck of HMS Hawke, which sank on October 15, 1914, off the coast of Scotland. “The ship is tilted to the starboard side and appears to be quite intact,” CNN quoted Will Schwarz, one of the divers, on August 16. “The guns look like they could still be operational; they are so shiny it’s hard to believe. I have never seen a gun in such great condition. But we are deeply saddened that 524 people lost their lives on board.”
The warship sank just 7 minutes after being hit by the torpedo. Historians believe that the ship’s armory exploded, resulting in the deaths of 524 sailors, including many soldiers under the age of 18. The youngest casualty on the ship was a 14-year-old soldier.
To locate the wreck, Lost In Waters Deep and Buchan Divers, two organizations specializing in shipwreck searches in Scotland, initially gathered evidence such as logs from the German submarine that fired the torpedo and accounts from surviving ships in the area. Thanks to the information obtained, they examined nautical charts in the region and scanned the seabed for the vessel.
Upon reaching a depth of 110 meters below the surface, the divers found the long-lost wreck on August 11. Due to the wreck’s depth, they could only stay for about 20 minutes and returned on August 14 for another exploratory dive. “You can’t see the bodies, but you can see plates, cups, and navigational equipment. The ship is surprisingly well-preserved with its teak deck,” Schwarz shared.
The diving team did not encounter any identifying objects, such as name plates, to conclusively determine that the wreck was indeed HMS Hawke. According to Schwarz, there was only one warship missing in the area, and this ship matched the identifying characteristics of an Edgar-class destroyer, which means it could only be the Hawke.