WRECKED
SS Sphene
Andy Hunt offers a tour around a north Cornwall wreck that sits in relatively shallow water , defying the forces of the Atlantic since 1946
LOCATION : Port Quin Bay , north Cornwall DEPTH : 18.7m VISIBILITY : Typically 5-15m
Looking in on the Sphene ' s engine room from the starboard side
Over the last couple of years I have discovered the delights of diving north Cornwall . In some ways its rugged and wild volcanic coastline , interspersed with golden beachy bays and clear Atlantic waters reminds me of my other favourite diving spot , the West Coast of Scotland . However , it is considerably warmer and its proximity to the Bristol Channel meant that it has a substantially higher density of shipwrecks , from wartime , weather and wandering off course .
From the online wreck records , the Sphene appears to have been re-discovered and dived in the late 1980s . Today the wreck has a well-defined shape about her , with some substantial bits standing clear of the
50 seabed , which for something this shallow on the Atlantic coast I find quite surprising . It may be there are a combination of factors at play here : she wasn ’ t blown up by a mine or torpedo ; her location shielding her from the worst of the prevailing weather ; or the fact she is part submerged along the length in a sandy seabed and oriented at 110 / 290 degrees , perpendicular to the worse waves or a combination of all of them .
That said , she is an old wreck and showing the signs of that age . Her overall height is gradually diminishing and amidships the sides have been torn sideways and flattening – the starboard side lying on the seabed and the port side lying in the wreck with only a set of steps suggesting you may be in the vicinity of the area of the bridge .
You will most likely start this wreck at the stern near the boiler , given that this is the largest upstanding area of the wreck and the largest target for the grapnel . The stern area has a more compact feel to it , with plenty of crumbling rusty metal doing its best to bury the broken engine where the cylinder nearest the boiler is broken off to starboard . If you look closely at the debris field you can still make out one or two cleanly defined lines of one or two brass objects . You could be tempted just to have a rummage at the start but the wreck isn ’ t that big and you have time to explore all of her first before returning for a ferret around .