SS ''Castilian'' was a British

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

and is now a dangerous wreck in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

off the coast of

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, 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 Snowdon ...

. She was built in 1919 to a standard First World War design. In 1943 while carrying munitions she struck rocks off The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey and sank. An exclusion zone under section 2 of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 (Prohibition on approaching dangerous wrecks) forbids

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

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 ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

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 (engine), cylinder, then ha ...

. 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 flag state, 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 hav ...

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

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GBVX. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

''Castilian'' sailed between Britain,

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

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 and returning from Canada or the USA in HX or

SC convoys The SC convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys that ran during the battle of the Atlantic during World War II. They were east-bound slow convoys originating in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (designated as Sydney, Cape Breton by the Allied ...

. In November 1942 she sailed from

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was ...

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

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

unescorted. The next day she struck rocks off The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey 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 Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 (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