The wreck is reported to be well-broken up, with wreckage extending over an area measuring 100m x 64m. The wreck has a height of 10.4m. Two magentometer readings were gathered over the site in 2010 - 34.05 nT/m and 27 nT/m.
Event and Historical Information:
The PHILOTIS was a steel-hulled steamship built as the GREBE for the General Steam Navigation Company, London, by the Ailsa Ship Building Company, Troon, in 1926. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 880gt, 366nt; 220ft 5in length x 35ft 2in breadth x 11ft 8in depth; 1 deck, shelter deck, cruiser stern; 5 bulkheads; screw propulsion powered by twin steam boilers linked to a triple expansion engine producing 175hp; official number 148737. At time of loss, the vessel was owned by Moss Hutchinson Lne Ltd and registered at Liverpool. The ship was carrying coal from Swansea to Lisbon on 3 September 1940 when it was lost approximately 8miles northwest of the Saint Govan's light vessel. The loss location was confirmed with a sonar contact reported by the Commander in Chief Western Approaches in May 1943. The wreck was examined by HMS WOODLARK in 1976. The wreck was sought as part of the Cadw-funded Welsh Coal and Slates Project and located during a programme of marine geophysical survey during April-May 2010 by Wessex Archaeology.
Sources include:
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 July - 30 September 1940, p.7 (f)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1940 - 30 June 1941, number 81413 in P
SS Philotis, 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).
Wessex Archaeology, 2010, Wrecks off the Coast of Wales: Marine Geophysical Surveys and Interpretation, Report Ref: 53111.02-5, pg40, WA ID 7029
Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, June 2012.
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.