This wreck, thought to be the VANDALIA, is lying with its keel orientated 122/202 degrees (bows facing southwest). It has a length of 112m, a breadth of 17m, and a height of 11m (with the highest point at its north end).
Event and Historical Information:
The VANDALIA was a 7333gt cargo vessel. It was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-96 on 9 June 1918. A contemporary report gives the position as 51 44 00N, 06 10 00W, and states that it sank in just under 2 hours, 18 miles west northwest of the Smalls Lighthouse. Under its original, ANGLO-CALIFORNIAN, the ship is recorded to have traded to Swansea (in port in February 1915). It was also involved in a notable encounter with U-39 on 4 July 1915, whilst on passage from Quebec to Avonmouth with a cargo of horses, some 90 miles south of Queenstown, Ireland. The submarine was spotted on the surface and the master, Frederick Parslow, made every effort to increase speed and bring the submarine astern. An SOS signal was sent and answered immediately by a British warship which gave the master hope that help was nearby. The ship was then chased for half an hour with the u-boat gaining steadily and then, for an hour and a half, the u-boat maintained a steady gunfire as the steamship steered a zig-zag course. The British vessel was frequently hit, and in order to save life Captain Parslow decided to obey the signal to abandon ship. The engines were stopped and the port after-lifeboat was successfully lowered, but one of the falls of the starboard boat was struck by a shell, with the result that the boat fell away and capsized. The submarine ceased firing and closed. An armed ship, the PRINCESS ENA, which had slowly been overhauling the submarine, opened fire at 9,000 yards. The shot fell short of the submarine, but a wireless message from a destroyer 'to hold on' persuaded the master to recall the lifeboats recalled and resume attempts to evade capture. The submarine opened fire at close range on the bridge and boats, with rifles as well as the submarine's guns. During this attack, the master was killed, the steering wheel and compass were damaged, and one of the port davits was smashed causing a lifeboat to drop into the sea, together with all its occupants. The chief officer again ordered the ship to be abandoned, the firemen came up from below, and the remaining boats were manned and lowered. The destroyers MENTOR and MIRANDA then arrived and the submarine made its escape. The ANGLO CALIFORNIAN was then escorted into Queenstown. Twenty members of the crew had been killed and another 7 wounded.
The son of the master, who had remained on the bridge with his father throughout, steering the ship, was unwounded. The wireless telegraph operator had stayed at his post, accurately sending and receiving messages. A veterinary surgeon (F Neal), who was in charge of the 900 horses on board, not only rendered aid to the animals (20 of which were killed) but also assisted wounded crewmembers.
The master was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award in the UK honours system for gallantry in the presence of the enemy. The Chief Engineer, who stepped in when the master was killed, was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal. In addition, a cheque for £250 was awarded to the ANGLO-CALIFORNIAN by Lloyd's as an honorary acknowledgement of gallant conduct. It was later reported in The Cambrian Leader on 5 July 1915, that the New York American had featured an article about the adventures of Carl Franz List, an American serving onboard a German U-Boat, in which the crew of the u-boat are stated as having agreed that the ANGLO CALIFORNIAN's captain ought to have received the Iron Cross, the German medal decoration. The names of all the crewmen whose lives were lost are recorded on the Tower Hill memorial to the Merchant Marine
The ANGLO-CALIFORNIAN was subsequently sold to Cunard Steamship Co Ltd in 1916. Its name was changed to VANDALIA, and thereafter it was managed by Lawther, Latta & Co of London. In the torpedoing by U-96 in June 1918, there were no casualties. The vessel took two hours to sink and hence the crew were able to make good their escape. The U-96, under the command of Heinrich Jess, was responsible for sinking 7 other vessels around the coast of Wales during the Great War. The wreck was located in 1945 by Escort Group 31. HMS HERALD relocated and examined the wreck in 1977. HMS BULLDOG examined the wreck in 1980.
Sources include:
Anglo-Californian, uboat.net
The Cambrian Daily leader, 5th July 1915, p.1
The Cambrian Daily Leader, 10 August 1915, p.2
Goddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, p.111
Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder, 10 July 1915, p.4
Mercantile Navy List 1915, p.5
South Wales Weekly Post, 11th September 1915, p.8
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea
UK Hydrographic Office Wrecks and Obstructions Database. ? Crown Copyright and database rights. Reproduced by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and the UK Hydrographic Office (www.ukho.gov.uk).
Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, May 2018.
This record was enhanced in 2020 with funding from Lloyd's Register Foundation as part of the project ‘Making the Link: Lloyd's Register and the National Monuments Record of Wales’. Visit Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre for more resources.