The wreck was uncovered during storms in January 2008. The remains of a windlass, with a length of chain wound around it, was one of the notable features.

Event and Historical Information:
The SEA KING was a wooden barque built by Vaughan and Loomer, Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, in 1881. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 1209gt, 1117nt: 181ft 5in length x 37ft 5in breadth x 22ft depth; hull constructed of fir (pine) and fastened with yellow metal. The barque's original owners were Robert Rand, merchant of Cornwallis; William Chase, merchant of Cornwallis; John Smith, mariner of Hantsport and John Parker, merchant of New York City. The barque was sold to Norway in 1892 and its name was changed from FRANK STAFFORD. At time of loss on 8 October 1896, it was owned by J A Bentsen, Mandal, Norway and registered at Mandal. Under the command of master, G Olsen, the barque was carrying a cargo of coal from Cardiff to Bahia, Brazil, when it caught in a west-southwesterly gale force 9 and driven ashore on Stackpole Head. Five of the SEA KING's thirteen crew perished and are buried in Stackpole Cheriton churchyard

Sources include:

Board of Trade Wreck Return 1896, Appendix C, Table 1, p.125 (563)
The County Echo, 15 October 1896, p.2
James, D, Sands of Time, Pembrokeshire Life March 2008, p.13
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 October - 31 December 1896, p.14 (h)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1894 - 30 June 1895, number 516 in S
 

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, February 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.