Archaeological material related to the wreck of the NIDELV is located along the top of the beach at Musselwick Sands, although they are often fully buried by sediment. Identified remains include a iron windlass from the bow of the ship, a pair of hawsepipes (through which the ship's anchor chain would have run), metal fastenings and hull elements such as iron straps, and degraded elements of the vessel's auxiliary engine, including the stern tube to carry the prop shaft. A further hawsepipe is located (at SM7840808814) a short distance to the south-west of the main area of wreckage.
The site was visited by the RCAHMW and recorded with a photogrammetry survey to create a baseline record of the site (links below).
Event and Historical Information:
The NIDELV was a Norwegian-registered 3-masted auxiliary schooner built in 1919 at Arendal by Helle Baatbyggeri. The vessel was 206 grt, 108.7ft (33.1m) long, 23.6ft (7.19m) wide, and 12.1ft (3.75m) depth. It was built with of oak and pine, fastened with galvanised iron bolts, and had a 17ft (5.1m) forecastle and a 26ft (7.9m) raised quartedeck. The ship carried a 2-cylinder auxiliary engine, rated at 100bhp. At the time of loss it was owned by Lars Knudsen and Co. of Arendal.
On 29 July 1921 the NIDELV was en route from Coleraine to Swansea in ballast when wrecked on Musselwick Sands, St. Bride's Bay, Pembrokeshire. The Lloyds Casualty Returns records that the vessel was "on Musselwick Sands" suggesting that it ran aground on the beach, rather than sinking in the adjacent bay.
Sources include:
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 July - 30 September 1931, p.7 (g)
Norwegian Shipping Register 1920, N8
RCAHMW Photogrammetry Survey, PGS2024_040, 13/01/2025. Can be viewed here: https://skfb.ly/ptKwz
https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?313109
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, January 2025.
This record was created 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.