Archaeological remains associated with the loss of this vessel are not confirmed as present at this location, but may be in the vicinity.

Event and Historical Information:
The DIAMANT (ex-ALBATROS) was a three-masted schooner or barque built by J. Oltmann Wwe, at Brake on the River Wesser, north Germany in 1887. Technical specifications are given as 324gt, 241nt; 126ft 9in length x 26 5in breadth x 12ft 5in height; single deck; 3 masts. At time of loss, the vessel was owned by E H Mignot and registered at St Malo. An article in the Abergavenny Chronicle, 18 June 1915, reported that the vessel had been sunk by a U-boat on 13 June 1915. The master, Geslin, stated that submarine appeared from behind a steamer which watched the operation, and that afterwards the submarine returned to the shelter of the ship. The location given was 'off Pendeen' or 'the middle of the entrance between Ireland and Cornwall'. The crew were landed at Plymouth the next day. The DIAMANT was amongst five vessels attacked in the Western Approaches over few short days according the newspapers - the others were the HOPEMOUNT, a Newcastle steamer (crew landed at Barry), the DESABIA, a tank steamer, the QUEEN ALEXANDRIA, a Dundee trawler, and an unknown schooner. The u-boat responsible was U-35 under the command of Kptlt Waldemar Kophamel. The submarine would go on to be the most successful German u-boat of the Great War, sinking 226 ships.

Sources include:

Abergavenny Chronicle, 18 June 1915, p.3
Diamant, uboat.net
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 April - 30 June 1915, p.12 (i)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1914 - 30 June 1915, number 95 in D
U35, uboat.net
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea

UKHO ID 69373: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.

J.Whitewright, RCAHMW, April 2022

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.