The wreck identified as THE QUEEN lies in 92m of water with its keel orientated 275(bow)/085 (stern). The length of the wreck is 50m and the width is 8m. The vessel sits upright on the seabed with machinery surviving in place at its stern.

The wreck was identified as THE QUEEN during research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 161) for the Echoes from the Deep project following a detailed survey by Bangor University in March 2019. Its record has been updated to reflect that new research.

Event and Historical Information:
THE QUEEN was a steel-hulled steamship built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon, in 1897 (yard number 65). Technical and configuration specifications are given as 557gt, 218nt; 175ft long x 27ft breadth x 10ft 2in depth; machinery aft; 1 deck (weather deck), 3 bulkheads, quarterdeck 99ft, boat deck 9ft, forecastle 34ft; screw propulsion powered by a single boiler linked to a compound engine producing 80hp made by Muir & Houston Ltd, Glasgow; official number 108682. THE QUEEN was owned at time of loss by J Hay & Sons, Glasgow, and was transporting coal from Ayr to Devonport under the command of master D Macalister. The collier was stopped by the German submarine U38 commanded by Kapitanleutnant Max Valentiner. The crew were forced to abandon ship without loss of life, after which the ship was sunk by gunfire 40 miles north northeast of the Smalls.

THE QUEEN was one of 10 vessels sunk by U38 on the same day - 17 August 1915 including the GLENBY (NPRN 274830) and ISIDORO (NPRN 544270). The U-boat had begun its patrol in April in the North Sea, passing north around Scotland 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:

Goddard, T, 1993, Pembrokeshire Shipwrecks, p.102
Great War at Sea: The QUEEN sunk 17 August 1915, People's Collection Wales
Koerver, H J, (ed), 2012, German Submarine Warfare 1914-18 in the eyes of British Intelligence, p.175

McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
Mercantile Navy List 1900, p.288
Mercantile Navy List 1910, p.414
Mercantile Navy List 1915, p.480
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 538 in T
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea

UKHO ID 9887: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.

J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, April 2023

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.

Site Record

The Queen (UKHO 9887)