Read more about the article SS Filleigh (1945)
SS Filleight (1945)

SS Filleigh (1945)

At 05:55 on 18 April 1945, only weeks before the end of the war in Europe, Filleigh was torpedoed by U-245, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich Schumann-Hindenberg, while in convoy off the North Foreland / Dover Strait area. The same attack also sank the Norwegian ship Karmt. Filleigh went down with the loss of five crewmen, while her master, 37 crew, 10 DEMS gunners and a Belgian pilot were rescued and landed at Dover. For divers, this is a powerful late-war wreck: a large cargo steamer, military cargo, a U-boat attack in the final days of the Battle of the Atlantic, and a site lying in about 50 metres. Not a casual potter, then. More a proper Channel wreck with teeth.

Read more about the article SS Mecklenburg I (1916)
SS Mecklenburg (1916)

SS Mecklenburg I (1916)

On 27 February 1916, Mecklenburg was on passage from Tilbury to Vlissingen when she struck a mine near the Galloper Light Vessel, laid four days earlier by the German minelaying submarine UC-7, commanded by Georg Haag. She sank in about 30 minutes, but all aboard were saved. Dutch records give 49 passengers and 63 crew rescued, while another heritage summary gives 49 passengers and 75 crew, so the safest public wording is "all passengers and crew were rescued". For divers, this is a superb wartime passenger-steamer story: a neutral Dutch mail boat, a North Sea minefield, a rapid sinking, and a wreck tied directly to the dangerous wartime routes between Britain and the Low Countries. Elegant ship. Ugly ending. Very Channel.