Medway 59
It's all possibleOther News
2009
Hardboat dives have been booked at both Weymouth and Newhaven. Contact us for details and availability.August 2010
The club is going to Lundy. Contact us for details and availability.
Tel: 07805 290061
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Pomerania
Medway Sub-Aqua Club is proud to have
adopted the Hamburg-Amerika Line SS Pomerania, a wreck off Folkestone, Kent, not
to be confused with the Canada-Pacific Pomeranian that sank off Portland Bill
with tragic loss of life.
The Pomerania lies on her port side with the bow to the East, at a depth of 25 metres, standing 6m proud at 51°02'43N - 01°18'48E and although very broken up, is one of the most beautiful wrecks off the Kent coast.
The Pomerania lies on her port side with the bow to the East, at a depth of 25 metres, standing 6m proud at 51°02'43N - 01°18'48E and although very broken up, is one of the most beautiful wrecks off the Kent coast.
History
The SS Pomerania was a German ocean
liner steamer that was built in 1873 and measured 360-feet by 40-feet at
3382grt, and carried 109 passengers. She produced 600 horsepower from a
two-cylinder compound engine.
Sailing for the Hamburg-Amerika Line under the command of Captain Schwensen, she made regular trips between New York and Hamburg via Plymouth.On 25 November, 1878, she was hit amidships on her starboard side by the iron-hulled Welsh barque Moel Eilian off Folkestone and sank in less than half an hour.
The Moel Eilian was too badly damaged to assist, barely making it to Dover. Fortunately, the steamer Glengarry was nearby and came to the rescue. Accounts vary as to whether there was loss of life, although local records seem to indicate that there was not. (It seems probable that the Pomerania and the Pomeranian have been mixed up in several sources).
Extract from Dover’s National Sailors’ Home booklet, published 1903: German mail steamer Pomerania . She was run down off Folkestone on 26 November 1878. Fortunately, in this case, the whole crew and passengers were saved. One hundred and seventy-two passengers and crew were received into the Home, and as they had lost all their belongings, were clothed and all necessities attended to. On 26 November, ninety-nine were sent by the L.C and D.R., seven by the South-Eastern Railway and the remainder to Ostend by the mail boat.
Sailing for the Hamburg-Amerika Line under the command of Captain Schwensen, she made regular trips between New York and Hamburg via Plymouth.On 25 November, 1878, she was hit amidships on her starboard side by the iron-hulled Welsh barque Moel Eilian off Folkestone and sank in less than half an hour.
The Moel Eilian was too badly damaged to assist, barely making it to Dover. Fortunately, the steamer Glengarry was nearby and came to the rescue. Accounts vary as to whether there was loss of life, although local records seem to indicate that there was not. (It seems probable that the Pomerania and the Pomeranian have been mixed up in several sources).
Extract from Dover’s National Sailors’ Home booklet, published 1903: German mail steamer Pomerania . She was run down off Folkestone on 26 November 1878. Fortunately, in this case, the whole crew and passengers were saved. One hundred and seventy-two passengers and crew were received into the Home, and as they had lost all their belongings, were clothed and all necessities attended to. On 26 November, ninety-nine were sent by the L.C and D.R., seven by the South-Eastern Railway and the remainder to Ostend by the mail boat.
Record
While she is very broken up, parts of the
decking are still intact. Parts still stand proud and there are plenty of holes and
places to investigate.
Cog wheels from clocks still litter the hold.
2008 was not a good year for diving out of Dover, and out of several dives planned, only one was accomplished, with little result, other than the confirmation that there superficially appeared to be little change from 2007.
Cog wheels from clocks still litter the hold.
2008 was not a good year for diving out of Dover, and out of several dives planned, only one was accomplished, with little result, other than the confirmation that there superficially appeared to be little change from 2007.
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