SS ''Castilian'' was a British

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

steamship and is now a dangerous wreck in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

off the coast of

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

. She was built in 1919 to a standard First World War design. In 1943 while carrying

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

she struck rocks off

The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey The Skerries (Welsh: ''Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid'') () coming from the Old Norse word are a group of sparsely vegetated rocky islets (skerries), with a total area of about lying offshore from Carmel Head at the northwest corner of Anglesey, ...

and sank. An exclusion zone under section 2 of the

Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides protection for designated shipwrecks. Section 1 of the act provides for wrecks to be designated because of historical, archaeological or ...

(Prohibition on approaching dangerous wrecks) forbids

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chri ...

within of the wreck because her explosive cargo remains dangerous.

Namesakes

''Castilian'' was owned by Westcott & Laurance Line, a subsidiary of Ellerman Lines. She was the second of three Ellerman ships to bear the name. Ellerman's first ''Castilian'' had been Bullard, King & Co's '' Umbilo'', which Ellerman bought in 1909 and renamed. torpedoed and sank her in the North Atlantic northwest of Ireland in 1917. Ellerman's third ''Castilian'' was built for the company in 1955. From 1963 onwards she was renamed several times. In 1971 she was sold to Maldivian-registered owners and renamed ''Maldive Freedom''. Other earlier ships have been named ''Castilian'' but were not Ellerman ships.

History

Sir Raylton Dixon & Company built the ship in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

to the Shipping Controller's standard Type C design. Richardsons Westgarth & Company supplied her

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up h ...

. The Shipping Controller named all merchant ships with the prefix "War". Sources disagree as to whether ''Castilian'' was built as ''War Acacia'' or ''War Ocean''. ''Castilian''s UK

official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats have sometimes ...

was 143384. Until 1933 her code letters were KCJF. In 1934 these were replaced with the wireless

Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assig ...

GBVX. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

''Castilian'' sailed between Britain, Gibraltar and Allied ports in the Mediterranean from September 1939 until June 1940. From July 1940 until November 1942 she repeatedly crossed the North Atlantic: sailing west in OB and

ON convoys The ON convoys were a series of North Atlantic trade convoys running Outbound from the British Isles to North America during the Battle of the Atlantic. History From 7 September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, OB convoys sail ...

and returning from Canada or the USA in HX or SC convoys. In November 1942 she sailed from

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that ha ...

to Gibraltar, returning in January 1943. On 11 February 1943 ''Castilian'', laden with munitions, left

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

unescorted. The next day she struck rocks off

and sank.

An MOD warning at Porth y Felin - geograph

Wreck

In 1987 a Royal Navy clearance vessel spent several months removing unexploded ordnance from nearby Fydlyn Bay that was believed to have come from the wreck. In 1997 the site of the wreck on East Platters Rocks was designated under section 2 of the

(Prohibition on approaching dangerous wrecks) because of her dangerous cargo. An exclusion zone prohibits

within of the wreck.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castilian (1919) 1919 ships 1943 in Wales Maritime incidents in February 1943 Protected Wrecks of Wales Ships built on the River Tees Ships of the Ellerman Lines World War II shipwrecks in the Irish Sea Steamships of the United Kingdom World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom

Namesakes

History

Wreck

See also

References