Amberly MV

Amberley MV

Position ... 53 02'53,6 N / 00 58'06,5 E
Nationality ... British
Type ... Cargo
Propulsion ... 1x8 cylinder diesel engine, x1 screw
Power ... 1500 hp
Speed ... 10.5 knots
Built ... 1953
Builder ... Grangemouth Dockyard Co Ltd
Owner at time of loss ... Stephenson Clarke & Associated Companies Ltd. Normandy Shipping Company, London.
Lost ... 2nd April 1973
Cause ... Shift of cargo (coal) in heavy sea's
Tonnage ... 1934 grt
Dimensions ... 81 x 12 x ? mtrs
Yard number ... 503
Official number ... 5013844


Circumstances of loss
Whilst on route from Goole to Shoreham with a cargo of 2290 tons of coal the Amberley found herself in the grips of a force 9/10 gale. With the waves reaching upto 10mtrs in height and the Amberley Rolling and lurching, the cargo of coal shifted. In a heroic rescue by a RAF rescue helicopter all the crew were air lifted to safety before the Amberley sank.

Grangemouth Dockyard Co Ltd (Builders of the Amberley) The company was established in Grangemouth by William Miller and Samuel Popham Jackson in 1885. SS Vaitarna was the first ship constructed by the company. The company acquired another two yards in 1888, located in Alloa and Ardrossan. This was followed by the acquisition of a yard in Greenock in 1900, and the merging of the company with the pre-existing Greenock Dockyard Company. After eight years the company was incorporated as the Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Co. The Greenock yard was then sold to Cayzer, Irvine & Company, the operators of the Clan Line, in 1918. In 1920 the Greenock yard was itself incorporated as the Greenock Dockyard Co Ltd, while upon the split in 1918 the Grangemouth-based yard became the Grangemouth Dockyard Co Ltd. The company continued to build merchant ships and some naval vessels during the Second World War, eventually producing 31 new ships during the war. Forteen of the ships present at the Normandy Landings had been built at Grangemouth, while another 44 were repaired there. The facilities were also used to repair and maintain submarines of the Royal Netherlands Navy.


The company continued to operate after the war, becoming part of Swan Hunter in 1967. The company ceased building ships in 1972, thereafter concentrating solely on ship repair. With the large scale nationalisation of British shipbuilding in the late 1970s Swan Hunter became part of British Shipbuilders, with the Grangemouth Dockyard Company as a subsidiary. The winding up of operations in the 1980s saw the re-emergence of the Grangemouth Dockyard Company as a private concern in 1984, but it was subsequently liquidated in 1987.

The Amberley today ...  Click on the link below for a detailed report as featured in Divernet, wreck tour 95. Whilst this article was written in 2007 by John Liddiard, very little has changed on this site (2019). There have been reports of new holes opening up along the hull, some of these allowing access into the engine room.
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