Artemisia SS

ARTEMISIA . SS

Position ... 52 51 697 N / 001 36 270 E

Built ... 1920

Plumb bow and counter stern

Builder ... W. Doxford & Sons (Sunderland)

Owner ... Henry Thompson (London)

Tonnage ... 6507 gt

Dimensions ... Length 128.01 / Beam 16.45 / Draught 10.43mtrs

Machinery ... W. Doxford

Boilers ... x3 Scotch type / 3 corrugated furnaces per boiler

Engine ... 3 cylinder triple expansion ... 27, 44.5 & 75 x 54 inch

Power ... 565nhp

Speed ... 13 knots

Build ... Steel

Home port ... London

Voyage ... London - Tyne - Bahia Blanca (Argentina)

Cargo ... In ballast

Lost ... 14/03/1941

Cause ... Aircraft attack / bombed by German aircraft

Lives lost ... x2 / 1 x DEMs gunner / x1 crew member

Ownership history of the Artemisia

Built for the Grindon Steamship Company in 1920 as the Kincardine by William Doxford & Sons Ltd, 1923 sold to the New Egypt & Levant Shipping Company and renamed the Antar. In 1932 when sold to Henry Thompson of London she was renamed Artemisia.

William Doxford & Sons Ltd, builders of the Artemesia and her engine. William Doxford founded the company in 1840. From 1870 it was based in Pallion, Sunderland, on the River Wear in Northeast England. The Company was managed by William Doxford's four sons following his death in 1882. It was acquired by Northumberland Shipbuilding Company in 1918. It was renamed Doxford & Sunderland Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd in 1961 and Doxford & Sunderland Ltd in 1966. Court Line took it over in 1972 and renamed it Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd. In the 1970s a new all-weather Pallion yard was built which could build two ships of up to 30,000 tons deadweight side-by-side. The steel came in at one end, and the completed ship left from the other with engines installed and sometimes with the machinery running. Court Line collapsed in 1974 and the company was nationalised. It was privatised in 1986 when it was merged with Austin & Pickersgill to form North East Shipbuilders. The last ship built at Pallion was floated out of the yard in 1989 after which it closed as a shipbuilding yard. The old shipyard is now occupied by Pallion Engineering Limited, whilst the former marine engine works is occupied by W.H.Forster (Printers) Ltd.

Loss of the Artemisia

On March 14th 1941, the Artemisia left Southend in convoy number FN. 432 bound for Newcastle. When off the Norfolk coast at the approximate position of 52 53 N / 001 39 E, the Artemisia was bombed by a German aircraft. The attack was to prove fatal to the Artemisia and two of her crew, one of which was a DEMs gunner and the other being a merchant crew member. Despite the damage caused by the attack, the Artemisia was able to to still make some head way before eventually foundering. The position at which the Artemisia sank is some 3 miles southwest of where she was attacked, this being in line with her most direct course for land. Therefore can it be assumed that the captain in knowing his ship was doomed was attempting to get her into shallow water and ground her???

HMS Sheldrake took off the Captain and 46 crew members.

Below ... Side on view of the Artemisia (Note stern king posts fitted with booms for cargo handling).

UKHO

In June 1945 the Admiralty Authority for the area requested permission to disperse the wreck with the use of explosives, in turn their request being granted.

1948 ... Swept clear at 46ft / foul at 47ft. General water depth 70ft (21mtrs)

1970 ... Located by divers. Upright, bows slightly down, bows severely damaged and shapeless material heaped on seabed. Port midships damaged, rest of hull intact. Most of decking intact, no masts.

1983 ... Swept clear at 13.1mtrs / foul at 14.1mtrs. Least depth 16.9mtrs, scour depth 3mtrs, height 9mtrs, length 137mtrs.

1993 ... Swept clear at 15mtrs / foul at 15.4mtrs. General depth 22mtrs.

2015 ... Depth 16.6mtrs, Length 135mtrs, width 30mtrs, height 6mtrs.

The Artemisia today ( Depth.. 24 mtrs max)

Link to footage of broken wreckage (Stan Moore)

Below ... Diver alongside upturned starboard boiler (courtesy of Stan Moore)

For the most part, due to the effects of dispersal, the Artemisia is a mass of twisted plates and frames. The highest point of the wreck is her three giant boilers. The starboard side boiler is now to be found upended, but still in line with the port and centre boilers, both of these still remaining upright. The corrugated furnaces can still be seen, though they are now filled with sand. Heading away from the boilers towards the stern, the sheer size of the wreck becomes apparent as a mass of plates and frames carpet the seabed as they guide the way to the stern section. As you approach the stern on the port side, double and treble bollards come into view along with the stern king posts that now lay in amongst the wreckage. Once on the stern, though only clear of the seabed by a few metres, the curve of the stern is still evident amongst the associated wreckage. The steering quadrant is in plain view and is some ten feet across. Forward of the boilers, once again the sheer size of the wreck is once again apparent as a mass of plates and frames are laid out before you. A short distance in front of the boilers, what was once the bridge is now little more than a mass of twisted wreckage. Heading towards the bow, the hatch coamings of what would have been of holds one and two can be seen, along with associated winches.