EXPERTS have confirmed the identity of a “remarkable” First World War wreck on the North Sea floor off the Scottish coast found in the summer.
Deep-sea divers took to the waters off the coast of Fraserburgh in a bid to confirm the identity of the vessel and have released haunting images of its final resting place.
The pictures serve as the first sighting of the now-confirmed Royal Navy vessel, HMS Hawke, which was torpedoed by a German submarine during a patrol of the North Sea on October 15, 1914.
More than 500 of the ship’s crew died when it was sunk.
The wreckage was discovered back in August by divers from the organisation Lost Waters Deep, a volunteer team of civilian researchers and divers who aim to find lost and forgotten shipwrecks around the UK and remember their crews.
The vessel was found about one kilometre away from an “obstruction” marked on existing charts of the North Sea and about ten kilometres from Hawke’s location estimated by the UK Hydrographic Office in the early 70s.
“The wreck is in remarkable condition for a vessel of this era, likely due to the depth and having never been dived before,” said Steve Mortimer, one of the divers.
“It’s a fascinating site. You can look through the open scuttles and see artefacts just lying there on the deck.
“There’s lots of Royal Navy crockery, including teacups, plates and bowls. It’s a really remarkable time capsule.”
Two large guns, an Admiral’s walkway around the stern, navigation equipment, and teak decking were all discovered by the dive team.
Experts from the Royal Navy Historical Branch, National Museum of the Royal Navy, Salvage and Marine Organisation and Hydrographic Office have confirmed the sunken vessel is HMS Hawke.
The experts “poured over” footage, photographs, and scans gathered by the expedition, as an official war grave nothing was recovered from the wreck, as well as contemporary records and plans to confirm the sunken vessel's identity.
Kevin Heath, who runs Lost Waters Deep, said the find was the result of “huge amount of effort” from his team.
He said: “It is great to hear that the Royal Navy has confirmed our discovery of HMS Hawke.
“A huge amount of effort went into the research behind this project, so we knew we were searching in the right area – but until divers go down and visually ID the wreck, you can never be 100 per cent sure.
“It was such a relief when the divers surfaced and reported they had found a wreck with guns; I knew it had to be HMS Hawke.
“To have the Navy confirm this means that the final resting place of those 526 souls is no longer ‘lost’ and the site can be protected for future generations.”
