Latest news with #DominicRobinson
News.com.au
3 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Shipwreck mystery solved after nearly 140 years
A shipwreck mystery has been solved after divers uncovered a vessel that had sunk nearly 140 years ago. Diver Dominic Robinson, a British former army officer and military helicopter pilot, captured incredible footage of a wreckage off the coast of Plymouth, England. He set sail with skipper James, crew member Liz and explorers Rick and Andy for the dive. They carefully examined the site of the wreck and discovered a plate with the Cunard Steamship Company logo. This clue led Mr Robinson to discover the wreckage was of the SS Nantes, which tragically collided with a German sailing vessel, the Theodor Ruger, in November 1888. 'The Nantes was built in 1874, in Glasgow, and very sadly lasted a mere 14 years before it was sunk,' Mr Robinson said. 'It was, when it was sunk, on passage from Liverpool to La Havre in France carrying cargo of coal. 'Sadly, pretty much everybody who was on board the Nantes died. 'There were only three survivors, two guys who jumped on to the Theodor Ruger and then another guy who stayed on the Nantes and was part of the team that sort of tried to keep it afloat. 'Unfortunately, the Nantes went down about ten hours later in the early hours of the morning and he was the only person who was picked up from that. 'It's quite a sad story.' After the ship went down, it became lost until Mr Robinson and his team discovered it. Mr Robinson, who has been diving for around 35 years, heard about the unidentified shipwreck from the UK Hydrographic Office. Afterwards the 'wreck was essentially lost, obviously you're dealing in a period with no satellite navigation'. He added while the crew tried to save the ship it 'drifted for several hours, before it finally made its way to the bottom, sadly, with many of its crewmen on board'. He said the wreck was lost until a local dive team identified it in 2024. 'We've got the size (of this wreck) from the information on the UK Hydrographic Office,' Mr Robinson said. 'We know it's about 78 or 79 metres long. 'We know that there's a Cunard plate from it – so, basically what we're looking for, and we know it's old as well. 'So what you do is you try to find a list of all the Cunard ships that were sunk. 'You then try and narrow them down to, to a relatively small one, and an old one. 'We obviously know where it sank, so if you can find information about the sinking and the wreck that aligns all those things up, then it's fairly straightforward to identify it.' The Cunard plate Mr Robinson found was crucial in the ship's identification. He said: 'Even though the wreck had been dived before, it was never identified and this small piece of broken plate allowed us to do exactly that. 'The more eagle eyed among you may already have noticed the logo from the famous Cunard shipping line. 'And not surprisingly, this is what gave us the most significant clue.'
The Sun
3 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Mystery of UK shipwreck is solved 140 years after bodies of crew who used mattresses to plug holes in vessel washed up
A SHIPWRECK mystery has been solved after divers uncovered a vessel which sunk nearly 140 years ago. Crew on board the SS Nantes made desperate attempts to plug the ship's holes with mattresses when it sunk in 1888. 7 The wreckage of the SS Nantes, has been discovered, having sunk 137 years ago - killing almost everyone onboard. The boat tragically collided with a German sailing vessel, the Theodor Ruger, in November 1888, as reported by NeedToKnow. Only two people survived, with two people jumping to safety on the Ruger, and one person who stayed on the Nantes trying to keep it afloat. The Nantes sank approximately ten hours after the collision, this took place off the coast of Plymouth, in the early hours of the morning. Diver Dominic Robinson discovered the wreckage of the SS Nantes last week, 246 feet below sea level. The 50-year-old former Army Officer found a plate with the Cunard Steamship Company logo, belonging to the forgotten vessel. This enabled him to work out that the wreck he had found was that of the SS Nantes. Dominic and his crew then carefully examined the site of the wreck, and discovered old crockery which was key in identifying the wreck. He said: 'The Nantes was built in 1874, in Glasgow, and very sadly lasted a mere 14 years before it was sunk,' said Dominic. 'It was on a passage from Liverpool to La Havre, when it was sunk in France carrying cargo of coal. 'It's quite a sad story.' After the ship went down, it became lost until Dominic and his team discovered it. Dominic, who has been an underwater explorer for around 35 years, first caught wind of the unidentified shipwreck from the UK Hydrographic Office. Maritime Historian Dr Harry Bennett, who works at the institute, explained why the wreck has taken well over a century to find: "Obviously you're dealing in a period with no satellite navigation. "While the crew tried to save the ship it drifted for several hours, before it finally made its way to the bottom, sadly with many of its crewmen on board". Dominic added: "The wreck was lost until a local dive team identified it in 2024. 'We got the size of the wreck from the information on the UK Hydrographic Office. 'We knew the boat is about 78 or 79 metres long. 'We also knew that there was a Cunard plate from it - which was basically what we're looking for. 'So what you do is you try to find a list of all the Cunard ships that were sunk. 'You then try and narrow them down to, to a relatively small one, and an old one. 'We obviously know where it sank, so if you can find information about the sinking and the wreck that aligns all those things up, then it's fairly straightforward to identify it.' The Cunard plate which Dominic found was crucial in the ship's identification. He said: 'Even though the wreck had been dived before, it was never identified and this small piece of broken plate allowed us to do exactly that. 'The more eagle eyed amongst you may already have noticed the logo from the famous Cunard shipping line. 'And not surprisingly, this is what gave us the most significant clue.' 7 7 7 7
