The Norfolk coast is littered wtih dozens of shipwrecks which throughut the years have been discovered by divers or exposed by shifting sands. Here's a look at some of the most infamous local wreckages, the oldest dating back to the 19th century.
• HMS Invincible
This third rate Royal Navy ship was first lauched on March, 9 1765 at Deptford and went on to serve in the American War of Independence under the command of Captain Charles Saxton. HMS Invincible fought in the battles of Cape St Vincent in 1780 and the Battles of the Chesapeake in 1781 and was present at the Glorious First of June in 1794. A few years later, on March, 16 1801, the ship sailed out of Great Yarmouth under the flag of Rear-Admiral Thomas Totty, intending to join the Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's Baltic Fleet. However strong winds forced the HMS Invincible off course causing her to get stuck on the Hammond Knoll near Haisborough Sands. The crew worked throughout the night in attempt to save the ship, which sadly sunk at daybreak the following day. Approximately 400 men perished in the wreckage, others, including Thomas Totty, were rescued by a local fishing boat. The next few days saw many of the crew members' bodies wash up on shore at Happisburgh, where they were placed in a mass grave. Today a memorial stone stands iin the churchyard where the mass grave was discovered, erected in 1998 to honour the memory of those who died at sea.
• The Ispolen
Ispolen, a German-built ship was travelling from Norway to Gravesend in January 1897, carrying a cargo of ice, but got into difficulty during a storm which lasted for several days. The wreckage has appeared and disappeared from Sheringham beach several times, notoriously emerging from the sand in 2012 before vanishing, believed to have been destroyed by the tidal surge in 2013, but reappearing once more in July 2014 near the west promenade.
• Walkure
Built in 1896 in Dumbarton, The Walkure (German for Valkyrie) is one of the most researched shipwrecks in Norfolk according to the National Coastwatch Institution. Also known as the SV Conway, the barque set sail on December 1, 1911 from Hamburg bound for Santos, Brazil, carrying a cargo of tinned food, household goods and cars. Two days into the journey, the German ship became stuck on the dreaded Haisborough Sands and had to be abandoned after the mainmast made a hole in the hull. The crew of 24 were rescued by Gorleston lifeboat crew and taken back to shore, where two kind volunteers, Mr and Mrs Bracey, fed and clothed them. Some of the cargo was recovered from the wreckage, including bicycles, china, sewing machines, medicines and brass reading lamps, which was all sold at auction at the Corn Hall in Great Yarmouth in almost 400 lots.
• U-31
Earlier this year, windfarm developers ScottishPower Renewables, discovered the wreckage of a First World War German U-boat lying about 55 miles east of Caister-on-Sea as they scanned the seabed. The submarine went missing over 100 years ago after it struck a mine in the North Sea in Jaunary, 1915 and sank. All 35 men who had been on board died, making the site of the wreckage an official military maritime grave. The U-31 was one of 375 German submarines that set sail during the First World War, of these 202 were lost in action.
• Steam Trawler Sheraton
Built in 1907 by Cook, Welton and Gemmell of Beverley, the Steam Trawler Sheraton was initially used as a fishing vessel, but was later used for boom defence work during the First World War and as a patrol vessel in the Second World War, for which it was fitted with a six pounder gun. Following this, The Sheraton was moored off Brest Sand and used for target practice. However a gale on April, 23, 1947 caused the Steam Trawler to break free and drift onto Hunstanton beach. Much of the boat was salvaged, but today the bottom of the hull still remains on the beach in the intertidal zone.
• Alf
Originally built in 1867 as Inchgreen in the shipyards of Caird and Company in Greenock, Scotland, this three-masted Norwegian barque was later bought by Norwegian owners and renamed Alf. The ship was heading for Liverpool with a small crew on board when disaster struck on Tuesday, November 23, 1909. The Alf had reached Norfolk but in the darkness was unable to properly navigate and ended up crashing into the Haisborough sands and getting stuck. The crew realised there was nothing that could be done to get Alf off the sand and thus decided to abandon ship, launching the ship's boats to take the crew to safety. However not all of the crew members were able to escape, with the first and second mates left stranded on the wreckage after their boat was caught in a wave and washed away from them. Luckily the pair managed to find flares in the ship's stores which were seen by the master of the Haisborough light vessel who called the coastguard. Louisa Heartwell, the Cromer lifeboat was launched, with Henry Blogg acting as coxswain for the very first time. The lifeboat crew were unable to find any signs of life upon reaching The Alf, so headed instead for Sea Palling to rest until the bad weather conditions improved. At Sea Palling the crew met King, the Great Yarmouth steam drifter, whose captain told Blogg they had seen two men hanging from the mizzen rigging on the Alf, it later became known that the sailors had gone below deck during the first rescue attempt in order to find more flares. Blogg blamed himself for not being more thorough and set a course back to the barque.
Today the wreckage of Alf is located 24.1km north of Hemsby, at a depth of 10m in sand on the Haisborough Sands.
• Which wreckage story most interests you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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