The wreck is reported to lie on the northwest tip of Grassholm Island. The ship's bell was recovered in 1995 confirming its identity. The ship's steering indicator and two portholes have also been recovered and reported the Receiver of Wreck. The full character and extent of archaeological remains is presently unknown.
Event and Historical Information:
The WALTER L M RUSS was a steel-hulled steamship which was built by Akt. Ges. 'Neptun', Rostock in 1927. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 1538gt, 890nt; 246ft 9in length x 40ft 1in breadth x 15ft 5in depth; cruiser stern; screw propulsion powered by two steam boilers linked to a triple expansion engine. At time of loss on 15 July 1945, the vessel was owned by Ernst Russ, Hamburg, and was registered at Hamburg. The ship had been captured by the Allies at Schleswig in May 1945 and was passed to the Ministry of War Transport for reassignment. It was intended that the ship be renamed the EMPIRE CONCOURSE. The ship was on passage from Kiel to Cardiff (in ballast) with a steaming crew onboard. It went ashore 50 yards from the western end of Grassholm Island in a west-northwesterly gale. Of the crew of seventeen, six managed to reach the precarious safety of the rocks of the island, two clung to the funnel ladder and another was in the main top. During an operation lasting 10 hours, the Angle lifeboat rescued all nine and landed them at Milford Haven.
Sources include:
Goddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, p.124
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 July - 30 September 1945, p.8 (g)
Receiver of Wreck Droits Database 2007 RCIM6/2/5
SS Walter L. M. Russ, 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).
Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, April 2017.
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.