Archaeological remains associated with NPRN 516032 (UKHO 11902) correlate with the FV HORATIO with regard to overall dimensions and area of loss. It may therefore be concluded with reasonable certainty that NPRN 516032 can be identified as the seabed remains of the FV Horatio.
The wreck lies in 70m of water with its keel orientated approximately NW-SE with the bow to the NW. The wreck is upright on the seafloor and generally intact. A section of the superstructure is visible as an upstanding feature in the stern half of the vessel. There is evidence of a slight collapse of the deck amidships. The vessel's dimensions, as measured from the most recent survey work are 32.8m (107.6ft) in length, 7.6m (24.9ft) wide, and with a measurable height off the seabed of 2.9m.
A debris field lies primarily off the stern to the south and a further anomaly, extending 17.7m by 8.5m, is located around 90m to the south-east. There is an area of scour around the bow and stern of the vessel.
Event and Historical Information:
The FV HORATIO was a steel-hulled fishing trawler, built in 1906 at Govan by Mackie & Thompson (Yard No 317, Official Number 123329) and registered at Hull (H 877). The vessel sank on the 18th June 1938 while fishing to the south-west of Milford Haven, following an explosion in the engine room. The FV HORATIO was 109ft (33.2m) in length, 21.4ft (6.5m) in width, and 11.2ft (3.4m) deep (assumed to be depth of hold), tonnage is given as 174 gross and 67 net, with a single deck. The vessel was propelled via a single screw powered by a triple expansion 45 horsepower steam engine by W.V.V. Lidgerwood of Glasgow, it also carried a ketch rig.
The vessel was initially owned by Hellyer's Steam Fishing Co. Ltd of Hull and registered as H877. Between 1914 and 1918 the ship was requisitioned for Admiralty service as a minesweeper (Admiralty No. 615). Post-war, ownership passed to Charles Curzon of Milford Haven (1918) and then the Dobson Steam Fishing Co. Ltd of Grimsby in 1920. The latter saw the ship re-registered at Grimsby as GY653. In 1923 the ownership returned to Hull and Kelsall Bros & Beeching Ltd, with re-registration as H904. Ownership was transferred again in 1924 to the Hull Steam Fishing & Ice Co. Ltd. Finally, in 1930 the vessel's ownership moved to Colin H. Brand 'and others' of Milford Haven who owned the vessel at the time of its loss, retaining registration as H904.
On the 17th and 18th June 1938 the FV HORATIO was fishing in the waters to the south-west of Milford Haven. Shortly after midnight (on the 18th) there was a double explosion in the vessel's engine room. The master, Fred Lockner, signaled distress, and the crew were picked up by another fishing vessel, the CAPETOWN. An attempt was made to tow the HORATIO clear of the fishing ground, but the vessel sank, forcing the tow to be cut. Although the general area of loss is known, historical sources are unclear about the exact location of the explosion and subsequent sinking, variously giving positions of 30 miles off Milford Haven, or 26 miles WSW of St Annes Head
Sources include:
Gill, A, 1989, Lost trawlers of Hull : nine hundred losses between 1835 and 1987, p.100
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1937- 30 June 1938, number 09232 in H
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 April - 30 June 1938, p.4 (b)
https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?ref=12419
http://www.llangibby.eclipse.co.uk/milfordtrawlers/accidents%20&%20incidents/horatio%20h904.htm
Erebus Floating Wind Farm. Archaeology Technical Report - 2021/MSDS20149/5, High Potential Anomaly ERS21_0032.
UKHO ID 11902: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
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.
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, January 2023.