Scottish Shipwrecks

Information and Pictures of Shipwrecks in Scotland

  • Home
  • About
    • About Clyde Shipwrecks
    • About Argyll Shipwrecks
  • AREA INFO
    • Upper Clyde
    • Clyde Coast North
    • Arran
    • Clyde Coast South
    • Galloway
    • Kintyre & Gigha
    • Islay
    • Jura, Lorne & Oban
    • Mull Coll & Tiree
  • Shipwrecks
    • Scottish Shipwrecks
    • 1 – Galloway & Solway Firth
    • 2 – Clyde
    • 3 – Argyll
    • 4 – NW Scotland & Outer Hebrides
    • 5 – North Coast & Orkney Isles
    • 6 – Shetland Isles & Fair Isle
    • 7 – North East Scotland
    • 8 – East Scotland
    • 9 – South East Scotland
  • Book Sale
    • Argyll Shipwrecks
    • Clyde Shipwrecks
  • Blog

8 – East Scotland

RATTRAY HEAD TO FIFENESS

Introduction

Scotland’s east coast is the location of two of the countries most significant cities – namely Aberdeen and Dundee. The economies of both cities are closely tied to the sea and the resultant high volume of vessels entering and leaving their ports have resulted in hundreds of wrecks up and down this section of the Scottish coastline.

Aberdeen, Scotland’s third most populous city, and it’s neighbouring townships of Peterhead and Fraserburgh were the base for a huge fishing fleet and even to this day remain the primary fishing ports of Scotland. In support of the fishing industry a large successful shipbuilding industry flourished in the area building vessels for local fishing companies and other fisheries across the UK. Many of these vessels were to find their end round the Scottish coast and feature across this website. In recent times the city has flourished with the discovery of oil in the North Sea with Aberdeen becoming the main support hub for the industry and it’s related activity.

Dundee, Scotland’s fourth largest city on the banks of the River Tay, while also supporting a fishing and shipbuilding industry became a more international port. Historically a centre for textiles and also a base for a large whaling industry these two capabilities came together in the 1850s when Dundee became a world hub for the jute industry. At it’s peak there were more than 60 jute mills in the city and more than 50,000 workers were employed bringing huge wealth and prosperity to the city and large volumes of shipping traffic to it’s port.

The topography of the section of coastline from Rattray Head south to Fifeness is fairly consistent with some areas of low cliffs and other sandier areas close to the mouths of the many rivers that flow into the North Sea. The weather on the coastline, particularly in winter brings fog, harr and poor visibility which resulted in many hundreds of shipwrecks and huge loss of life in the days before vessels had the sophisticated navigation equipment available nowadays. The other significant contributor to the shipwrecks found offshore here was the route of the hundreds of wartime convoys from and to the east coast of England that travelled up and down the Scottish east coast. The area became a prime hunting ground for German U-boats in their attempt to stop supplies to Britain in both world wars.

Area Wreck Map

.

Wreck List

Adventure – Archangel – HMS Argyll – Atland – Cairnavon – City of Osaka – Einar Jarl – Exmouth – G Koch – Granero – Maria W – Mercator – HMS Rockingham – HMS Success – St Briac

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Book Sales

Argyll Shipwrecks records the loss of around four hundred ships along the west coast of Scotland, from Kintyre to Mull. Stories of courage and rescue are enhanced with old photographs and detailed charts recording where to find and dive on the wrecks. The book is a unique catalogue of shipping history of the area and its legacy of shipwrecks. Buy this book here

Clyde Shipwrecks records the loss of around three hundred and fifty ships along the Clyde estuary in south west Scotland. Stories of courage and rescue are enhanced with old photographs and detailed charts recording where to find and dive on the wrecks. The book is a unique catalogue of shipping history of the area and its legacy of shipwrecks. Buy this book here

Featured Post

Website Update

18th November 2020 By Peter Moir Leave a Comment

For those of you who have not visited the site recently we can announce that the Shipwrecks section has been updated and a new search format is in … [Read More...]

Website update on the way

21st October 2020 By Peter Moir Leave a Comment

  We have noticed a problem with the menu for the Shipwrecks section of the site and this will get worse as we add more wrecks. This problem … [Read More...]

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Our Social Media Sites

            

Shipwreck Slideshow

Admiral Cordington
Barcombe
Belford
Bombardier
Brigadier
Clydesdale
Cormoran
Coronella
Dunira
Grenadier
Harald
Hereford Express
Islay
Kathleen Stromboli
Lapwing II
Laverock
Milewater
Mountaineer
Norse
Paulina
Hexpress
Pirate
Pretorian
Princess Patricia
Rondo
Tyrconnel
Agios Minas

Site built and hosted by Braveheart Webdesign Islay

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.