The broken engine block
Pink sea fans on the boiler
The lost collier
The SS Sphene was a steel vessel , weighing in at 815grt ( gross register tonnage ); in terms of size , she was about 58m long by 9m across the beam and 4m high , powered by a three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine ; single boiler ; three corrugated furnaces ; single shaft and screw , generating up to 79 hose power . She was built just after the First World War in 1920 by London and Montroe S & R Co Ltd in Montrose , and plied her trade as a collier . She was on passage from Barry to London and encountered some bad weather . After sheltering behind Lundy for the week , she resumed passage but struck a rocky island called The Mouls just off Rumps Point , in heavy seas and poor visibility . She was abandoned by the crew before drifting off to sink about 1Nm ENE of the island . She was lost on 5th February 1946 , but all crew were recovered .
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