The steel steamship Thyra was launched from the Sunderland yard of Osborne, Graham and Co Ltd (Yard No 106) on 30th November 1899. She measured 339.0′ x 48.0′ x 17.9′ and her tonnage was 3742 gross tons, 2419 net tons. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine by Blair and Co Ltd, Stockton-on-Tees delivering 300 nominal horse power. Built for Intsk Dampskibs Thyra’s Rederi of Tonsberg she initially operated on their Africa/Australia/New Zealand service.
Steamship Thyra under way
Extract Lloyd’s Register 1913
On 11th June 1914 she was en route from the Tyne for New York with a full general cargo under the command of Captain Neilsen who had a crew of twenty six men aboard. She had stopped briefly at Dundee and departed from this port on Wednesday 10th June heading north to round Duncansby Head and through the Pentland Firth before heading out across the Atlantic. On Thursday morning the ship was enveloped in a dense fog forcing Captain Neilsen to reduce speed as they neared the entrance to the Pentland Firth. Neilsen was on the bridge when suddenly rocks were sighted directly ahead and, although the engines were put into reverse, the ship ran aground, bow pointing directly towards the towering cliffs at Duncansby Head some five hundred yards north of the Duncansby Stacks. The sea was calm and smooth so the crew were in no danger but the ship was stuck fast.
Thyra aground near Duncansby Stacks
Initially, hopes were high she could be successfully refloated but, despite multiple attempts by Danish salvage tugs hired by the Liverpool Salvage Association, this proved to be impossible. Most of her cargo was removed during the process to lighten the ship but the gradual wearing of the ship on the rocks eventually penetrated the hull flooding most of the compartments. Salvage operations were interrupted by the outbreak of World War One and the Thyra was doomed.
The scattered remains of the Thyra are spread across a wide area in a position we estimate to be 58° 38.280’N, 03° 01.560’W in water up to 15 metres deep. The site is very exposed from the east and subject to large swells when wind and sea are coming from the east.
