The wreck site of the HILDENA has been identified during research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 145) for the Echoes from the Deep project. McCartney concluded that the HILDENA is positionally, dimensionally, and archivally consistent with UKHO 7439 (NPRN 506353). The record has been updated to reflect that research.
Event and Historical Information:
The HILDENA was a steel-hulled steamship built by Charles Rennoldson & Co. at South Shields in 1914. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 120ft 3in length x 13ft 6in breadth x 10ft 3in depth; 1 deck, quarter deck 42ft, boat deck 9ft, forecastle 18ft; screw propulsion powered a single steam boiler linked to a compound engine producing 52hp; machinery aft made by Shields Engineering Co Ltd, North Shields.
At the time of loss 14 January 1918, the vessel was transporting coal from Partington to Waterford when it foundered 3-4 miles north of the Skerries after a collision with the SS HIRANO MARU with the loss of all hands.
Sources include:
Board of Trade Wreck Return 1918 Pt II, Table A, p.37 (3)
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 January - 31 March 1918, p.6 (c)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1915 - 30 June 1916, number 821 in H
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
UKHO ID 7439: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, November 2023
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.