The wreck site of the GREENLAND has been identified during research by Dr Innes McCartney (2022: 175) for the Echoes from the Deep project. McCartney concluded that the GREENLAND is positionally, dimensionally, and archivally consistent with UKHO 9922 (NPRN 516156). The record has been updated to reflect that research.
Event and Historical Information:
The GREENLAND was a steel-hulled steamship built by Barclay, Curle, and Co Ltd, Glasgow, in 1908. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 1753gt, 866nt; 260ft length x 36ft breadth x 14ft 7in depth; 1 deck, 4 bulkhead, boat deck 73ft, forecastle 33ft; screw propulsion powered by twin steam boiler linked to a triple expansion engine producing 246hp. At the time of loss, the vessel was owned by Liverpool & Hamburg S.S Co Ltd (D Currie & Co, 3 and 4 Fenchurch Street) and was registered at Liverpool.
The ship was on passage from Fleetwood to Cherbourg under the command of master A. Vincent on 14 February 1917, when it was captured by German submarine UC-65. The crew were forced to abandon ship after which the GREENLAND was sunk by explosive charges 22 miles southwest of Bardsey Island. Four days earlier the GREENLAND had rescued the crew of the steamship SELLAGH (see NPRN 240715) which had been captured and sunk by a German submarine on 10 February 1917. A report in the Manchester Evening News, Friday 16 February 1917, notes that the crew had landed safely the day before.
Sources include:
Appropriation Books, Official Numbers 127901 - 127950 (127939)
Gater, D, 1992, Historic Shipwrecks of Wales, p.130
HMSO, 1988, British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, p.33
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 January - 31 March 1917, p.11 (i)
Manchester Evening News,16 February 1917, p.3
McCartney, I., 2022. Echoes from the Deep. Leiden: Sidestone Press. https://www.sidestone.com/books/echoes-from-the-deep
Mercantile Navy List, 1910, p.213
Mercantile Navy List, 1915, p.244
U-Boat Project: Commemorating the War at Sea
UKHO ID 9922: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, November 2023.
This record was enhanced in 2020 with funding from Lloyd's Register Foundation as part of the project ‘Making the Link: Lloyd's Register and the National Monuments Record of Wales’. Visit Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre for more resources.