The Haileybury was launched on 28th November 1901 and completed in February 1902. She was one of ten vessels constructed to the same basic design by her builders William Pickersgill & Sons Ltd. at Southwick in Sunderland. These vessels were steel cargo steamships with dimensions of 324.0′ x 47.1′ x 21.7′ and tonnages were 2888 gross and 1809 net. Designs adapted to suit individual buyers requirements but the general layout and hull dimensions remained the same. The ship layout was – 33′ foc’sle at bow, foredeck with two hatches, central bridge deck 96′ long, aft deck with two main hatches, and a poop deck at the stern 31′ long. The Haileybury was powered by a single triple expansion steam engine by George Clark Ltd, Sunderland delivering 282 nominal horse power.
Haileybury builder’s profile and deck plan
While researching the Haileybury we were unable to find any photographs but, with more research were able to establish that two of her sister ships had also met been lost off the west coast of Scotland. The two vessels are the the SS Esbo which sank 20 miles to the north, off Girvan in 1936, and the SS Veni that ran aground off the north coast of Islay in 1948. The stories on these vessels can be found on this site by clicking the links highlighted. Pictures of the two vessels are included here.
SS Esbo launched as SS Avristan
SS Veni launched as SS Tonbridge
The Haileybury, registered in London and owned by W Thomas and Sons Ltd, sank off the Galloway Coast on 22nd February 1918 when she was torpedoed by the German submarine SM U-91. She took many hours to sink which allowed the crew time to abandon ship but, unfortunately, the master and one crew member were killed at the time of the attack. SM U-91 made her escape and went on to sink 40 ships (c96,000 tons) before surrendering on 21st November 1918 at Harwich as part of the WW1 armistice. She was later broken up at Briton Ferry, South Wales in 1921, and her deck gun survives as part of a war memorial in Chepstow.
The wreck of the Haileybury lies approximately 5 miles south west of Corsewall Lighthouse, in position 54° 55.173’N, 005° 16.010’W. General seabed depths around the wreck are 44 metres with shallowest depth on the wreck of 34 metres. The wreck lies 070°/250° with stern at the NE end of the wreck.
U-91 KTB map showing position of attack on SS Haileybury
One of the most striking features of the wreck is the prominent stern castle, with gun still in place, pointing towards the shore. The gun and counter stern section is a blaze of colour with anemones and soft corals, of special note are the crimson jewel anemones which have colonised the gun and pedestal. The wreck is a substantial size, and will take a least one dive to fully explore.
The wreck is swept by strong tides on both ebb and flood and can only be dived safely at slack water, while this should be checked locally the authors believe this to be around 1.5 hours before HW/LW Greenock. This will vary on phase of tide, as will the period of slack water.
