The wreck has wire swept and salvaged but is reported to be fairly completed. The bow is intact and stands 8m proud of the seabed and retains an anchor and chain. The bridge lies on the seabed to port. The ship's twin boilers are recognisable. Two gantries stand 5m above the seabed at the stern, which has collapsed. A sleeve block (incomplete) has been recovered and reported to the Receiver of Wreck.

Event and Historical Information:
The MEATH was a steel-hulled steamship (ex-LADY MEATH). Technical and configuration specifications are given as 1598gt; 321ft length x 40ft breadth x 16ft depth. At time of loss, the vessel was carrying 781 cattle and 1008 sheep from Dublin to Birkenhead. The ship detonated a mine 6-7 cables close to the end of the breakwater on 16 August 1940 and sank a mile northeast of the lighthouse. HMS MANX LAD, a naval patrol boat (fishing vessel), rescued the crew, but also struck a mine sinking near the entrance of the New Harbour (see NPRN 272139). At time of loss, the ship's position was given as bearing 039.5 degrees, 7.5 cables from the Holyhead outer breakwater light. A green wreck buoy was laid bearing 270 degrees, 100 yards from the wreck. The wreck was wire swept in 1957 and salvaged in the early 1980s.

Sources include:
BSAC Wreck Register, Addendum 2 to Vol 1 and 3, 49 (292)
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Receiver of Wreck Droits Database August 2007
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).
Wynne-Jones, I, 2001, Shipwrecks of North Wales, 4ed, pg68

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, June 2008