The wreck of the KANGAROO lies in 32m of water and is orientated 190/350. The wreck is scattered within a rock outcrop and the orientation of the bow and stern is not clear, although the bow may be to the south (McCartney, 2022: 242). The visible remains extend for 63m and a boiler and an engine may be visible (McCartney, 2022: 242).
Diver reports (Wrecksite.EU) from March 2019 record the wreck as a 'single-boiler steamer'. They also note that the stern is exposed, and the bow is largely buried other than the windlass and the top of the surviving foremast piece.
The wreck was originally designated by the UKHO as 'Unknown'. Research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 242) for the Echoes from the Deep project, following a detailed survey by Bangor University in May 2019, identified the wreck as being positionally, and archivally consistent with the loss of the KANGAROO. The record has been updated to reflect that research.
The wreck was first located and surveyed by the UKHO in 2015, when a high magnetometer reading was noted.
Event and Historical Information:
The KANGAROO was screw steamer built in 1853 by Smith and Rodger, Middleton Yard, Govan (Yard No. 31, Official No. 16279). The vessel was constructed from iron, 458 grt, 167.5ft (51.1m) long, 23.2ft (7.1m) wide and 12.6ft (3.8m) depth. It was powered by a 2-cylinder 'simple' steam engine with a single shaft and screw. At the time of loss, the vessel was owned by the Northern Steam Navigation Co., Aberdeen.
On 23 January 1862 the KANGAROO was on passage from the Clyde to Bordeaux when it was caught in a SW Force 10 storm and foundered some 10 miles south of the South Stack lighthouse, Anglesey, with the loss of 13 lives.
Sources include:
Board of Trade Wreck Return 1862 Table 8 pg14 (188)
https://www.clydeships.co.uk/ search: KANGAROO (1853)
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
UKHO ID 83693: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?153014
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, December 2023
