The St Dunstan (Wreck)

 First World War 1914-1918, shipwreck, interesting place, invisible

Some idea of the threat to Britain's survival in World War One caused by German torpedoes and mines can be gained from the fact that the 200ft-long St Dunstan, built as a bucket-dredger in 1894, had to be requisitioned and pushed into service as a mine-sweeper. Practically anything that could float was taken by the Admiralty to keep the shipping lanes clear.

The St Dunstan was lost on 23 September, 1917. She was sunk by a mine laid by UC21 on that U-boat's last mission, which had started from Zeebrugge on 13 September, and from which Oberleutnant von Zerboni di Sposetti and his crew of 26 never returned.

St Dunstan had been taken over by the Navy, and though her civilian captain Thomas Morgan was still aboard, she was commanded by Sub-Lieutenant Charles Gray. He took her out of Portsmouth early on the day of the sinking and headed down-Channel. He had to anchor in Weymouth Bay with steering problems, but soon sorted that out and headed on past Portland Bill with his two escort trawlers, Fort Albert and Horatio.

At 11.30am, a huge explosion on St Dunstan's port bow caused her to list violently and Lt Gray ordered his men to jump overboard. He flung lifebuoys to them before jumping into the sea himself. Four minutes later the ship turned turtle and sank.

Lt Gray and 19 of the 21 men aboard were picked up by the trawler escorts, but first mate John Obery and deckhand Edward Warren were drowned. Some of the survivors thought that they had been torpedoed, but later, when the area was swept, five U-boat-laid mines were found and identified as being from UC21