Archaeological remains associated with the loss of this vessel are not confirmed as present at this location, but may be in the vicinity (see NPRNs 516124 or 516125).

Event and Historical Information:
The REPEAT was a wooden steam drifter (or trawler - sources differ) built by J S Chambers at Lowestoft in 1913. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 107gt, 48nt; 84ft 4in x 20ft 2in breadth x 10ft 6in length; 1 deck; screw propulsion powered by a single boiler linked to a triple expansion engine producing 125hp; machinery by Elliott & Garrood Ltd, Beccles, Suffolk. At time of loss on 17 August 1915, the vessel was owned by R J Tripp of Lowestoft and under the command of W O Durrant. The drifter was stopped by U38, 18 miles west by south of Bardsey Island. The crew were forced to abandon the vessel, after which the REPEAT was sunk by gunfire. The REPEAT was amongst 10 vessels sunk on 17 August by U38. The U-boat had begun its patrol in April in the North Sea, passing north around Scotland to then come south to cruise between southern Ireland and Ushant, France. This patrol accounted for 5 trawlers, 3 sailing vessels and 22 merchant ships. Max Valentiner and U38 would go on to be amongst the five most successful commanders and German submarines of the Great War.

Sources include:

Great War at Sea: The QUEEN sunk 17 August 1915, People's Collection Wales
HMSO, 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, p.107
Koerver, H J, (ed), 2012, German Submarine Warfare 1914-18 in the eyes of British Intelligence, p.175
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 July - 30 September 1915, p.9 (i)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1915 - 30 June 1916, number 332 in R
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)
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea
Western Daily Press, 19 August 1915, p.8

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, February 2019.

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.