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Leysian

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NPRN273146
Map ReferenceSM83SW
Grid ReferenceSM8475934022
Unitary (Local) AuthorityMaritime
Old CountyMaritime
CommunityMaritime
Type Of SiteWRECK
PeriodModern
Description
The wreck is reported to lie against the cliff and to be much collapsed and scattered. Some parts (ribs) stand up to 2m above the seabed. A copper nozzle from a hose has been recovered and reported to the Receiver of Wreck. The full character and extent of archaeological remains is presently unknown.

Event and Historical Information:
The LEYSIAN was a steel-hulled steamship built by the Armstrong, Whitworth, & Co Ltd, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1906 (yard number 780). Technical and configuration specifications are given as 4703gt, 2999nt; 400ft long x 52ft breadth x 27ft depth; 2 decks, 6 bulkheads; screw propulsion powered by three steams boilers linked to a triple expansion engine producing 277hp. Built for D D G Kosmos, Hamburg, and originally named SERAK. The ship traded between Europe and north and south America. The steamship had been interned in a Swansea at the outbreak of the war and was then taken into use as a prize of war and given over to F Leyland & Co Ltd, Liverpool. The steamship had delivered a cargo of transport pack animals to Belfast and was returning to Barry to refuel with coal under the command of master R H Roberts. The ship encountered thick fog. There are conflicting accounts associated with the wrecking, the most common being that she mistook Strumble Head for St. David's Head in fog, but other accounts refer to her being chased onto the rocks by a German U-boat, the compass having been tampered with, and that there was a mutiny going involving around 50-muleteers. The captain's log records punishments for some of the muleteers (e.g. wages being docked). Sources also differ as to the size of the crew on board (39 or 130), however the Fishguard lifeboat CHARTERHOUSE was involved in assisting the crew to safety. Attempts were made to refloat the ship, but after being ashore for eight months the LEYSIAN finally went to pieces in October 1917.

Sources include:
Goddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, pg104
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Mercantile Navy List 1917, pg344
Receiver of Wreck Droits Database 2007 RCIM6/2/5
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 2019.