More information : Wreck Site and Archaeological Remains:
Method of Fix: C
GD: 10m
17-FEB-1922: Portion from stern to boiler room blown away, being removed. Rest of wreck is still fast embedded with 20ft of water over it at low water at 50 48.00N, 001 18.00W. (1)
31-DEC-1923: 50 47.58n, 001 17.56W, least depth after dispersal at shoreward end 29ft and 54ft at after end at low water, light barge removed. (1)
01-OCT-1951: Dispersal operations to take place 170 deg, 750ft from Calshot Castle during NOV-1951 and AUG-1952. (1)
Diving took place with a view to further dredging contracts. (1)
21-AUG-1963: Dispersal operations by diving craft WILBETTIE, 170deg, 750ft from Calshot Castle, gives position 50 47.57N, 001 18.03W, least depth over wreck 3 fathoms. (1)
The wreck of the LUCISTON lies in 16m of water, in 50 47.99N, 001 18.13W (WGS84). She lies just beneath the route taken by high speed passenger craft going to and from the Isle of Wight from Southampton. The wreck has been fairly flattened but the machinery stands up. The wrecks stands 4m high in a seabed of mud and stone. Contemporary reports from 1917 identify the LUCISTON in this position. (10)
01-OCT-2004: Located by side scan sonar in 5047.989N, 0118.119W [WGD] using DGPS. Not seen on MBES or echosounder. No scour. General depth 10m. Length 89m. Width 35m. Side scan sonar height 1.7m. The wreck is orientated 135/335 degrees.
17-MAR-2014: Located in 5048.012N, 0118.142W [WGD]. The least multibeam depth was 7.98m. Length 94m. Width 26m. The wreck is orientated NE/SW.
04-APR-2014: The wreck is upright. It is orientated 144/324 degrees, with the bows to the south-west. The wreck stands 2.5 - 3.0m high along its whole length. (11)(12)
Charted by the UKHO as 'LUCISTON' in 50 48.012N, 001 18.142W (WGS84). (11)(12)
Wreck Event and Documentary Evidence:
Reported torpedoed by submarine and then beached.
On 22-DEC-1917 the UB-74 fired a torpedo at the LUCISTON which hit her hull on the port side. She went on towards Southampton and beached near the mouth of Southampton water. Attempts to repair her failed. In 1922 a portion from her stern to her boiler room was blown in. Disperal attempts took years, the last recorded being in 1963. She is well broken and lies on the side of a bank. (2)(8)(9)
Torpedoed and damaged in the English Channel, 1.5 miles west by south from Owers Light vessel by the German submarine UC71 while carrying a cargo of Government stores. (3)
Ex. LUCINCITA; ex. RED CROSS. The second vessel by this name lost in WWI by the same owners, was torpedoed by the German submarine UC71...despite considerable damage, she managed to get into the Solent, and was anchored off Calshot Point, where she foundered. Salvage work in 1922 removed most of her stern forward as far as the boiler room, the vessel now having some 10m of water over the bow and 18m over the stern. The last known dispersal work was carried out in 1963. (4)
Torpedoed by the German submarine UC 71, but towed in and sank in Stokes Bay near Calshot Spit. (10)
Built: 1890 (4)
Builder: J L Thompson and Sons (4)
Where Built: Sunderland (4)
Propulsion: Screw-driven, 3-cylinder triple expansion engine (4)
HP: 265 (4)
Boilers: 2 (4)
Machinery: Blair & Co, Stockton (10)
Master: G Kay (4)
Crew: 26 (4)
Crew lost: 1 (4)
Owner: Luciston SS Co. Ltd. (4)
Armament: 1 x 12 pounder, 12 cwt stern gun (10)
Ownership history:
RED CROSS (1890-1913): Rowland & Marwood's SS Co Ltd. Whitby
LUCINCITA (1913-1917): Lucincita SS Co Ltd. Glasgow
LUCISTON (1917-): Luciston SS Co Ltd. Glasgow (13)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss
Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
LR 1917-1918 No 937(L) |