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Wreck of HMS Vanguard

United Kingdom

Position
About 58.9° N, 3° 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 1917, during a world war, by enemy action. Wrecks lost in war are treated as war graves.

Legal basis: Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (UK).

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 95%. When in doubt, Seadar generalises the position.

HMS Vanguard was one of three St Vincent-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She spent her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive action of 19 August several months later, her service during World War I mostly consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. Shortly before midnight on 9 July 1917 at Scapa Flow, Vanguard suffered a series of magazine explosions. She sank almost instantly, killing 843 of the 845 men aboard. The wreck was heavily salvaged after the war, but was eventually protected as a war grave in 1984. It was designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, and diving on the wreck is generally forbidden.

History from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA.

About this wreck

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

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