The wreck of the Voltaire lies in 89m of water and is orientated 135 (bow)/315 (stern). The wreck is 48m in length, 8m wide and is very collapsed apart from the raised stern area (McCartney, 2022: 172).

The wreck was originally identified by the UKHO as the ROTULA (NPRN 518315). Research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 172) for the Echoes from the Deep project, following a detailed survey by Bangor University in May 2017, identified the wreck as being dimensionally and archivally consistent with the loss of the VOLTAIRE. The record has been updated to reflect that new research.

Event and Historical Information:
The VOLTAIRE was a steel-hulled steamship built by Grangemouth Dockyard Company, Alloa, in 1890. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 409gt, 163nt; 150ft long x 24ft breadth x 10ft 6in depth; 1 deck, weather deck, 3 bulkheads, quarterdeck 84ft, boat deck 9ft, forecastle 22ft; machinery aft, screw propulsion powered by a single boiler linked to a triple expansion engine producing 60hp; machinery made by Ross & Duncan, Glasgow; official number 97807. At the time of loss the ship was owned by the Volana Shipping Co (Bright Rogers) and was registered at Liverpool.

The VOLTAIRE was on passage from Llanelli to Liverpool with general cargo when it was captured by a German submarine on 11 February 1917. The master, W. Elton, and crew were forced to abandon ship, after which the vessel was sunk by explosive scuttling charges 25 miles north-northeast of the Bishops and Clerks. The VOLTAIRE's crew were picked up by a Glasgow ship and later landed at Fishguard. The U-boat responsible was the UC-65 under the command of Kapitanleutnant Otto Steinbrinck. The ship was one of 10 vessels sunk or damaged by UC-65 around the coast of Wales between 10-15 February 1917.

Sources include:

The Cambria Daily Leader, 13 February 1917, p.1

Goddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, p.103

Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002

Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 January - 31 March 1917, p.12 (i)

Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping 1 July 1915 - 30 June 1916, number 606 in V

McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep

Mercantile Navy List, 1900, p.368

Mercantile Navy List, 1910, p.535

Mercantile Navy List, 1915, p.619

SS Voltaire, Wreck Site EU

Voltaire, uboat.net

U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea

UKHO ID 9915: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.

J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, November 2023.

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.

Site Record

Voltaire (UKHO 9915)