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Wreck of HMS Duchess

United Kingdom

Position
About 55.4° N, 6.1° W (within about 10 km)
Sank
—
Cause
—
Depth
—

Protection status

Location generalised to protect a war grave

The position shown is generalised to within about 10 km. The exact position is not published.

A military vessel lost in 1939, during a world war. Wrecks lost in war are treated as war graves.

This wreck may be the last resting place of those who died aboard. Please treat it with respect.

How this was decided: Seadar's protection rules, from the sources we hold, confidence 85%. When in doubt, Seadar generalises the position.

HMS Duchess was a D-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935. She was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during late 1935 during the Abyssinia Crisis, before returning to her duty station where she remained until mid-1939. Duchess was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet just before the Second World War began in September 1939. While escorting the battleship HMS Barham back to the British Isles, she was accidentally rammed by the battleship in thick fog and sank with heavy loss of life on 12 December 1939.

History from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA.

About this wreck

HMS Duchess is a recorded shipwreck site. Seadar shows wreck locations alongside live ship traffic, free, from Wikidata and public hydrographic records.

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