Berlengas & Peniche · Portugal · Wreck
Henry Mori
Boilers of a 1931 French steamer at 22 m
Area photo: Alexkom000 · CC BY 4.0
Henry Mori is a wreck inside what Portugal Dive calls the Shipwreck Cemetery at the Farilhões, the outer rocks of the Berlengas group. A French steamer of that name sank nearby in 1931. What survives is badly dismantled, with the remaining portions of the boilers and container-type compartments at 20 to 22 metres, and the life is thickest near the surface.
Also known as Henri Mori.
Where it is and how deep
39.4760° N, 9.5470° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The site sits within the Shipwreck Cemetery at the Farilhões, a stretch of the outer rocks that has taken more than one ship. The wreck itself is badly dismantled, so this is not a dive around a hull: the descent puts you at about 20 metres on a bottom of broken metal, with the deepest part of the route at 22, and the structure gets read piece by piece rather than followed end to end.
The remaining portions of the boilers and the container-type compartments are what the time goes on, since they hold enough shape to give the wreck a scale the rest of the debris does not. The site can be full of life, mainly near the surface in the areas where the waves hit the rocks, so the shallow end is not a formality here: it is where the fish are, and it makes a natural place to run out the last of the gas.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Henri Mori
- Type
- French steamer
- Sunk
- 1931
- Cause
- Lost at the Farilhões in 1931; no cause is given in the published accounts
- Lies
- Badly dismantled at 20–22 m; the boilers and container-type compartments still stand
A French steamer named Henri Mori sank nearby in 1931. Whatever the sea left of her was worked over afterwards, and the wreck today is badly dismantled: the remaining portions of the boilers and the container-type compartments are what divers explore. The Farilhões have a shipwreck cemetery for a reason, the Highland Hope having run onto the cliffs of Farilhão Grande a year earlier, in 1930.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season | Off-season |
Season follows Berlengas & Peniche: Jun–Sep is the practical season; Atlantic swell and 14°C water shut the crossing for most of the rest of the year.
Know before you go
- Life is thickest where the waves hit the rocks, which is also where the surge is strongest, so work off the rock in the shallows rather than holding position against it.
Sources
- Henry Mori dive site — Portugal Dive
- Highland Hope Wreck dive site — Portugal Dive
More dive sites in Berlengas & Peniche
Canyons and underwater arches beside a dog-shaped rock
Reef
A platform at 25 m on the north side before the drop to 40 m
Cave & cavern
The archipelago's simplest dive, 6 m average in a sheltered bay
Cave & cavern
Two caves and a wall, with fresh water on the ceiling
Wall of blue and purple gorgonians to 32 m on the outer islets
Reef
Sand, a small cavern and a broken wreck, all inside 15 m
Wreck
The 1930 Nelson Line liner lost on Farilhão Grande
Red wall of soft coral where the current pulls pelagics in
Similar dives elsewhere
Nearly 152 metres of liner (500 feet), broken across the reef in under 20 m
Wreck
Dori
Azores · Portugal
A 130-metre Liberty ship broken open in shallow water
A cement-laden cargo ship broken among basalt columns, 6 m to 21 m
An intact ship on sand at 24.4 m, wheelhouse at 13.7 m