The CASTILIAN was designated on 18 August 1987 under Section 2 of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. This section of the act provides protection for wrecks that are designated as dangerous by virtue of their contents. The controlled zone around the CASTILIAN extends for 500m from coordinate 53 25.01N 004 35.91W. Diving is strictly prohibited. This section of the Act is administered by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency through the Receiver of Wreck (http://www.mcga.gov.uk).

The wreck lies upside down and has settled into three main sections. There is a large hole in the bow and also on the starboard side where the plating is punctured and has splayed outwards (probably as a result of the partial clearance undertaken by naval divers in 1987). The bows of the vessel point towards Carmel Head.

Event and Historical Information:
The CASTILIAN was built as a 'C' Type Standard Ship at the end of the First World War by Sir Raylton Dixon & Co Ltd, Middlesbrough. The ship was completed in 1919 as part of the an extensive programme of ship building set in motion by the Shipping Controller was appointed by the British Government in 1916. It was decided that ships would be of a simple design and standardised as far as possible with hulls and engines. The ships were given WAR as a prefix to their names - the CASTILIAN being originally given the name of WAR OCEAN II. The C type was a 3000gt dry cargo ship; 342ft length x 46.5ft breadth x 23ft depth; with single screw for propulsion it was capable of speeds up to 11.5 knots powered by an inverted direct acting triple expansion engines built by Richard Westgarth & Co Ltd. The ship was bought by Ellerman Lines in 1937. The CASTILIAN left Eastham Docks on 11 February 1943 under the command of Joseph Every and with 47 crewmembers on board. The ship was bound for Lisbon and was under Royal Naval control as it had been ordered to anchor in Church Bay to await a convoy leaving Holyhead on the 12 February. The CASTILIAN encountered a southwesterly gale as it approached Anglesey. The master chose not to anchor in Church Bay, but instead to anchor off Holyhead breakwater. Both anchors were deployed, but by 2.10am the anchors had begun to drag. It was decided lift the anchors and to take the ship further out to sea. The ship was underway by 2.53am. At 3.20am, the ship struck on the East Platters. At 5.10m, the alarm was raised and the Holyhead lifeboat was called out. At 7.30am, the lifeboat reached the CASTILIAN and eventually took off all 47 of the crew. The lifeboat returned over the following two days to retrieve the six bags of confidential mail. By the second day the ship had lain down on its side and was underwater. The RNLI awarded the Bronze Medal to the coxswain and mechanic of the lifeboat. The court of enquiry found that the loss had been the result of bad lookout, failure to ascertain the correct position of the vessel, and attempting to take up anchorage on a dangerous coast during darkness without having fixed the position of the vessel beyond doubt. The master and second officer were found negligent. The 'general cargo' that the ship was said to be carrying was mainly munitions.

Sources include:

Evans, D G, 2007, Troubled Waters, pp.131-9
Larn and Larn shipwreck database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 January - 31 March 1943 p.9 (g)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1940 - 30 June 1941, number 71846 in C
Mitchell, W H and Sawyer, L A, 1968, British Standard Ships of World War I
Receiver of Wreck Droits Database 2007, RCIM6/2/5
SS Castilian, Wreck Site EU
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, 4th edition, p.83

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, June 2008.

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.