This wreck, believed to be the JONAS LIE, rests on the seabed with its keel orientated 010/190 degrees. The length has been estimated at 121m (400ft) with a breadth of 21m (68ft), with a height above the general level of the seabed of 8.2m.

The vessel may be protected under the Sunken Military Craft Act (Pub.L. 108-375, Div. A, Title XIV, Sections 1401 to 1408, Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 2094) which protects the sovereign status of U.S. sunken military wrecks in that no person may engage in or attempt to engage in any activity directed at a sunken military craft that disturbs, removes, or injures any sunken military craft. The Maritime Administration, US Department of Transportation, should be contacted for further information.

Event and Historical Information:
The JONAS LIE was a Liberty Ship built by the South Eastern Shipbuilding Corp, Savannah, in 1944. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 441ft 11in length x 57ft 10in breadth x 37ft 9in depth; screw propulsion powered by two steam boilers linked to triple expansion engine producing 2500hp. Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. They were British in conception but were adapted by the USA and came to symbolize US wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by German U-boats, they were purchased for the U.S. fleet and for lend-lease provision to Britain. Eighteen American shipyards built 2,751 Liberties between 1941 and 1945. The Southeastern Shipbuilding Corp was developed as a six-way yard and was headed by G. A. Rentschler, William H. Smith and Captain T. Rieber. The yard's first Liberty Ship was delivered on 13 February 1943 and its last on 24 February 1945 - eighty-eight Liberty Ships in just two years. Average man-hours per ship were 706,600. Average cost for a Southeastern Liberty Ship was $2,043,000. The ship was named after the Norweigian born painter Jonas Lie (1880 - 1940), who, in 1918, had painted a shipyard scene which was used for the iconic poster for the United States Shipping Board, Emergency Fleet Corporation, called 'On the Job for Victory'. At time of loss, the vessel was owned by Agwilines Inc, New York, and was enroute from Swansea and Milford Haven to New York in ballast. The ship was part of a west bound convoy ON-277, but was torpedoed by the German submarine U-1005 (Meyer) on the starboard side level with No 4 hold at 16.15pm on 9 January 1945. The explosion blew a large hole between her engine room and No 4 hold, which immediately filled with a mixture of water and oil. The vessel took on a 15 degree list to port and was abandoned off the Scilly Isles. However, the ship was later taken in tow with a 15 man salvage party on board, but the tow parted 4 miles north of Round Island. The St Mary's lifeboat, Isle of Scilly, took off the salvage party. A search was made on 16 January 1945, but having failed to locate the vessel reported it as sunk. However, the JONAS LIE had drifted as far as Grassholm Island.

Sources include:
Bunker, J, 1973, Liberty Ship: The Ugle Ducklings of World War II
Elphick, P, 2006, Liberty: The Ships that Won the War
Goddard, T, 1983, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, pg125
Lane, F C, 2001, Ships for Victory: A History of Shipbuilding under the U.S. Maritime Commission in World War II.
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Sawyer, L A and Mitchell, W H, 1985, The Liberty Ships: The history of the "emergency" type cargo ships constructed in the United States during World War II.
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, July 2009.