Wreck of HMHS Rewa, identified by Divers in 2004

HMHS Rewa, torpedoed by German Submarine U-55, off the Northern coast of Cornwall on the 4th. of January 1918.
HMHS Rewa, torpedoed by German Submarine U-55, off the Northern coast of Cornwall on the 4th. of January 1918.
Introduction.
HMHS Rewa has already been featured on Ahoy in the article covering the torpedoing and mining of British Hospital ships in WW1. (British Hospital Ships, Torpedoed or Mined in WW1)

Wreck found in 2003.
The wreck of Rewa was discovered by divers in September of 2003, lying upright in about 60 metres of water some 33 miles from Newquay off the Northern coast of Cornwall. She had been torpedoed by Wilhelm Werner in his U-55 on the 4th. of January 1918, the ship loaded with cot cases and walking wounded from Greece, and at the fag end of her voyage via Malta bound for Cardiff.

Report on Divernet dated 28th. of April 2004.
This Divernet report states that at long last this wreck site has yielded up artifacts that allow a positive identification of the lost Hospital ship Rewa. Six plates carrying the British India Line crest, plus a large silver serving dish and a 1918 bottle of vintage champagne have all been brought to the surface. The fact that this ship had six boilers also assisted in this positive I D.

She remains upright, and with a length of 139 metres is one of the longest wrecks in that area, divers report the torpedo had struck the hospital ship's stern, which is in a very mangled state.

Conclusion.
Although this ship sank some 86 years ago, modern diving equipment worn by adventurous divers is prying more and more secrets from the depths of the ocean, till now, tightly held in the darkness that obtains at such a depth as 60 metres.


   

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