The wreck of the BOSCAWEN lies in 76m of water and is orientated 225 (bow)/045 (stern). The wreck is on its port side and is 82m in length (McCartney, 2022: 187).
The wreck was originally designated by the UKHO as 'Unknown'. Research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 187) for the Echoes from the Deep project, following a detailed survey by Bangor University in May 2019, identified the wreck as being dimensionally and archivally consistent with the loss of the BOSCAWEN. The record has been updated to reflect that research.
Event and Historical Information:
The BOSCAWEN was a steamship built by Craig, Taylor & Co Ltd in Stockton-on-Tees in 1909. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 1936gt, 1174nt, 279ft length, 40.8ft breadth, 18.3ft depth, 239hp, screw propulsion; steel hull, signal letters HNWP; official number 128492. The ship was owned by The Cornish Shipping Company Ltd, Devon Buildings, James Street, Cardiff. The ship's manager was given as Edwin Jenkins, 1 James Street, Cardiff, in the Mercantile Navy List of 1915.
The ship was on passage from Birkenhead to Barry, in ballast (no cargo), when it was torpedoed and sunk without warning on 21 August 1918 by UB-92. The submarine was commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Johannes Paul Muller. The BOSCAWEN lost one crewmember - Able Seaman Oliver Jones, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), from Pontardawe. The loss location given in contemporary Board of Trade sources was 52 46N, 05 24W or 23 miles west-northwest of Bardsey.
Sources include:
Appropriation Books, Official Numbers 128451 - 128500 (128492)
Boscawen, U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea
HMSO, 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-1918 and 1939 -1945, p.95
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
Mercantile Navy List, 1910, p.63
Mercantile Navy List, 1915, p.71
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 July - 30 September 1918, p.8 (i)
The Story of the BOSCAWEN, People's Collection Wales
UKHO ID 9953: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, November 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.