Lanterna SS
SS Lanterna ( ex Carn- Brea )
Researched by Paul Hennessey
Position ... 52 57 500 N / 001 19 100 E
Depth ... 15mtrs
Type ... Steam ship, 3 Island type, forecastle, bridge, poop.
Dimensions ... Length, 80mtrs, Beam 11mtrs, Draught, 5.7mtrs
Tonnage ... 1685 gross
Cargo ... 2500 tons of coal
Build date ... 1882 / Willington Yard / yard no 40
Date of loss ... 06 10 1916
Cause of loss ... Mine
Builder ... Tyne Iron Shipping Company ( Construction, Iron )
Engine builder ... North Eastern Marine Engineers Co Ltd ( Sunderland )
Boilers ... x2 Scotch type drum boilers
Engine ... Compound (2 cylinders), 33 & 63 x 39 inches, 180 nhp, single shaft
Built as the Carn - Brea by the Tyne shipping Company Ltd in 1882 for Edmund Handcock & Co of Cardiff, changed hands on the 11th April 1916 to the Gas, Light & Coke Company ( London ), renamed Lanterna, owned at the time of her loss by the Gas Light & Coke Company. Whilst on passage from the Tyne to London with a cargo of coal, the Lanterna hit a mine laid by the German submarine UC1 captained by Heinrich Kustner. The Lanterna sank with no loss of life, all the crew being rescued by the SS Ardnagrena.
Below ... The Tyne Iron Ship Building Company
UC1 Class Submarine
The UC1 class submarine was a small mine laying German submarine, mine laying capacity upto 12 mines. They were the first operational mine laying submarines in the world, with fifteen being built in total.
Fate of UC1
Went on 80 patrols, sank 41 ships, 9 ships damaged, went missing and never heard of again as of 18th July 1917.
Below ... The crew on deck of a UC1 class submarine
The Lanterna today
The Lanterna is well dispersed and sanded. Her 2 boilers are upright but only show about 3 feet above the sandy seabed. Aft of the boilers is what is left of the engine, this being very broken with little more than a forked end of a con rod sticking out of the sand. There is no sign of her prop shaft or any other machinery, this more than likely being beneath a good few feet of sand. A small donkey boiler is to be found a short distance aft of the engine. For the most part, what is now left showing of the Lanterna above the sand is little more than edges of plating and ends of ribs and frames.