The wreck stands some 7.8m proud of the seabed with a least depth 58.6m in a general depth of 65m. It is lies orientated 060/240 degrees.

Event and Historical Information:
U-61 was completed by A G Weser, Bremen (yard or werk number 216) on the same design as U-57. It was ordered on 6 October 1914 and laid down on 22 June 1916. It was launched on 22 July 1916 and commissioned on 2 December 1916 under the command of Victor Dieckmann who remained the submarine's commander throughout its service life. It was armed with two bow and two stern torpedo tubes and had two 88mm deck guns (sources suggest that the foredeck gun may be 105mm). It undertook 9 patrols between 15 February 1917 and 26 March 1918 as part of II Flotilla. Thirty-three ships were sunk (84,564gross tons); seven ships were damaged (23,783 gross tons); and one warship was damaged (1,020tons). This submarine was on war patrol when it was spotted on the surface recharging its batteries by the British patrol vessel HMS PC-51. The British vessel managed to get within 300 yards, then increased speed and turned to ram the German submarine, but at that moment the British vessel's rudder jammed and it had to make a full 360 degree turn before its bow was again pointing at the submarine, now partially submerged in the process of a crash dive. PC-51 ran over the top of the submarine and dropped three depth charges, which having detonated were followed immediately by three huge under water explosions, which brought wreckage and human remains to the surface, confirming that U-61 had been destroyed.
The war grave of U61 contains the following personnel: Binder, Paul, Ob/Matrose; Bullrich, Ernest, Obts zue See; Bohm, Wilhelm, Heizer; Bohm, Alfred, Ob/Matrose; Dieckmann, Victor, KpLt; Eichmann, K, Ob/MaschinistenMt; Endres, Friedrick, E T Gast; Eppel, Gerd, Heizer; Fromme, W MaschinistenMt; Farber, August, MaschinistenMt; Guass, Oswald, Ob/MaschinistenAnw; Geilie, Herman, OB/BootsmannsMt; Gross, Fredrick, Lt sur See der Reserve; Gruber, Albert, MaschinistenMT; Hellman, G Ob/Heizer; Herfurth, Karle, Heizer; Knauer, Reinh, Matrose; Krummhaar, C, BootsmannsMt; Lunstedt, Paul, Ob/BootsmannsMt; Matte, Otto, Ob/Matrose; Norriman, Karl, Matrose; Otto, Max, OB/MaschinistenMt der Reserve; Paszek, Stanislaus, OB/Matrose; Rehm, Heinrich, Maschinist; Schellenwald, F T, Mt; Schmidt, Stefan, Ob/Heizer; Schroweg, F, MaschinistenMt; Schumann, M, BootsmannsMt; Sievers, Karl, Ob/Heizer; Stoeble, Alios, marine Ob/Ing; Tammen, Johann, Heizer; Kirche, Karl, Steurmann; Jahnke, Wilhelm, BootsmannsMt; Jahre, Wilhelm, F T Gast; Jennesen Karl, Hezier; Kertmann, G, MaschinistenMt; Thienant, Karl, Ob/MaschinistenMt; Vahldick, Rudolk, Heizer; Wegener, Paul, Matrose; Wilke, Larl, MaschinistenMt; and Winkler, Frederich, Matrose. Sources suggest a continuing question over exactly where the U61 was lost - through this meeting with P51 or did it escape the attack to be lost elsewhere cause unknown?

Sources include:
Armstrong, P and Young, R, 2010, Silent Warriors: Submarine Wrecks of the United Kingdom, Vol 3, p41-51
Larn and Larn shipwreck database 2002
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).

WWW resources:
http://www.uboat.net/wwi/boats/index.html?boat=61

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, June 2017.