Events

On 8 September 1915, Monarch was on passage from Santander to Newport with iron ore when she struck a mine laid by the German submarine UC-5, about 2.5 miles south of Folkestone, near the defence boom gate. She sank with frightening speed, reportedly in around three minutes, with three lives lost. The wreck lies upright but dispersed in roughly 21 to 28 metres, with boilers, triple-expansion engine remains, cable gear, pulley wheels, GPO-marked finds and cable-related fittings still giving the site its unmistakable character. For divers, Monarch is a cracking First World War Channel wreck: part industrial archaeology, part wartime casualty, and part underwater museum of the age when Britain’s messages travelled through copper, gutta-percha and optimism.

On 31 October 1915, Toward struck a mine laid by the German minelaying submarine UC-6, commanded by Matthias Graf von Schmettow, near the South Foreland / Dover area. The explosion tore into her beneath No. 2 hold, just forward of the bridge. She caught fire, settled quickly, and was abandoned. Remarkably, all the crew were rescued, including men who had jumped into the sea. For divers, Toward is a proper First World War Channel wreck: mine warfare, wartime cargo, a dramatic sinking, and a site still rich with clues from a ship that went down in one of the Dover Patrol’s most dangerous corridors.

On 28 March 1916, Saxon Prince disappeared off Dover / Kingsdown in a violent south-westerly Force 12 storm, while serving on Admiralty patrol work. Some records mention possible mining, but the strongest contemporary explanation is foundering in the furious gale. The Maritime Archaeology Trust records that all 12 men aboard were lost, and likely remains now lie in about 22 metres of water, roughly off the cliffs between St Margaret’s Bay and Kingsdown. For divers, this is a small wreck with a hard human story: a former fishing trawler turned wartime minesweeper, lost not to gunfire or torpedo, but to the Channel itself at its most brutal.

On 23 March 1916, Corona struck a mine off Ramsgate / in The Downs, believed to have been laid by the German minelaying submarine UC-6, commanded by Matthias Graf von Schmettow. Wrecksite and naval loss summaries record 13 lives lost, with the position often given around 51°08'50"N, 1°25'00"E. For divers, this is a compact but atmospheric Dover Strait war wreck: a requisitioned trawler, a UC-boat minefield, and a loss tied to the same deadly Channel campaign that claimed several merchantmen and patrol vessels in 1916. Small wreck. Heavy story.

On 21 February 1916, Carlton was mined off Folkestone and lost in the Dover Strait. The available naval loss records give the cause as a mine from an unknown source, so I’d avoid confidently naming the U-boat unless you’ve got a local source tying it down. For divers, Carlton is a compact but evocative First World War wreck: a Grimsby fishing trawler turned minesweeper, lost after only a short spell in naval service, in the same brutal Channel waters where small patrol craft worked daily against mines, weather and traffic. Small wreck, hard life, proper Dover Patrol story.

By 1945 she was serving as an anti-submarine trawler under Skipper Lieutenant Sidney John Cory, DSC, RNR. On 8 July 1945, two months after VE Day, La Nantaise sank in The Downs, near the Goodwin Sands Lightship, after a collision with the SS Helen Crest. Records list 11 lost from a crew of 25, with survivors rescued by the tug Empire Henchman. For divers, this is a compact but poignant Channel wreck: a fishing trawler turned patrol vessel, French in name, British in service, lost after the war in Europe had supposedly finished. The sea, naturally, did not read the memo.