| Summary : Remains of 1946 wreck of English cargo vessel, located 2.3 miles east of Rough's Tower, between the East and West Fort Massac buoys. The FORT MASSAC, a former 'Victory' ship, collided with another vessel while en route from Middlesbrough to Table Bay and foundered. A locomotive built in Darlington was said to have been among her cargo. Built of steel in Vancouver in 1943, she was a steam driven vessel. One of three wrecks at this location, the others, the EMPIRE BRIDGE and the CORCREST, are recorded as 1524543 and 1524325 respectively. |
More information : Wreck Site and Archaeological Remains:
Horizontal datum: WGS 84
Vertical datum: LAT
Quality of fix: Acoustic sensor, position surveyed with DGPS.
Charted as FORT MASSAC, entire wreck in Marine zone.
Vessel structure:
An 'intact, upright' wreck, with her 'bows to the east [which] covers two other wrecks close by.' Lies in position 51°53.36N, 001°32.61E at a depth of 3.5m in a general depth of 13m. (1)
Sonar dimensions: 113 x 17.4 x 8.4m. Orientation: 80°. Strong magnetic anomaly. (1)
The wreckage was last examined in 2007 when she was reported as being 'intact with clear superstructure midships. Bow and stern sections both show[ed] signs of damage. Large sediment build up to the SW.' (1, 25.2.08)
Seen to be located between the East and West Fort Massac buoys, some 2.3 miles east of the Roughs Tower. (7)
Wreck Event and Documentary Evidence:
'Owned at the time of loss by the Ministry of War Transport (J Cory and Sons Limited). Sank following a collision with ss THORNABY.' (1)
'Foundered and lost following collision with the steamship THORNABY, an East Coast trader, later renamed NORTHUMBRIAN COAST.' (2)
In April of the same year, the EMPIRE BRIDGE sank alongside the wreck, 'while involved in salvage operations', and in July 1949 the CORCREST struck the wreck of the FORT MASSAC and joined the other two vessels on the seabed. (1)
She was one of the 'Fort' ships, 'Victory' ships built and owned by the Canadian Government but leased, in this case, to the British Government. The 'lease-lend' terms under most of these were transferred meant that 'the owner supplied the ship, but the charterer [supplied and equipped] the vessel with all fuel, chandlery, hardware . . . and other expendable supplies. When the ship [was] returned to the owner, a reverse adjustment [was] made for fuel and supplies which remain[ed] on board.' (3)
The FORT MASSAC was one of only eight 'Fort' ships built by the Burrard Dry Dock Company, and one of only four lost in British control. (4) This source shows photographs of a number of the Fort ships.
'The 7,157-ton cargo ship FORT MASSAC, bound from Middlesbrough to Capetown, sank in shallow water off Harwich last night after a collision with another vessel. Thirty-three of the crew were taken off by the Walton-on-Naze lifeboat, but the captain remained on board the partly submerged vessel. One man is missing.' (8)
A new Darlington-built 4-8-2 locomotive destined for South Africa was lost in February 1946 in the Thames Estuary. (9)
The name of the vessel is not given in (9) above, but the date, place of loss, destination, and origination of the locomotive in Darlington, near Middlesbrough, suggests that the identification with FORT MASSAC is correct. There is no other wreck fitting this profile. (10)
Built: 1943 (1) (2)
Type: Victory Freighter, dry cargo (6)
Where built: Vancouver (1) (2)
Builder: Burrard Dry Dock Company Limited (1) (2)
LBD: 129.2 x 17.4 x 8.4m (1); 129.4 x 17.4 x 10.6m (2); 134.7 x 17.4 x 10.6m (4); 441.5 x 57.2ft (5)
Tonnage: 7157 grt. (1)(2)(3)
Propulsion: Screw-driven 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engine. (2)
HP: 628 (4)
Speed: 11 knots (4)
Machinery: By Canadian Allis-Chalmers Limited, Monreal. (2)
Captain: W Turnbull (2)
Crew: 34 (8)
Crew Lost: 1? (8)
Ownership:
1943 - Original owner - Wartime Merchant Shipping Limited (5)
- Leased to Ministry of War Transport (2) (6)
Date of loss qualifier: Actual date of loss
Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
Lloyd's Casualty Report 1946 p8 (f);
Sea Breezes magazine Vol 8 July - Dec 1949 p98 and 304;
World Ship Society Vol 2 p17;
Mitchell, W H, and Sawyer, 1966, 'The Oceans, the Forts and the Parks.' |