Antares was a 95.5 m German supply freighter torpedoed on 10 April 1940, a day after the Amasis and by the same submarine. She is the more serious of the pair: broken at an angle in 53 to 55 m, bridge collapsed, with trucks and motorcycles still sitting in her holds and one hold full of horse skeletons.
Also known as S/S Antares.
Where it is and how deep
58.1637° N, 11.2477° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The depth sets the plan. The wreck sits between 53 and 55 m, a little deeper than the nearby Amasis, and the listing rates it very advanced rather than merely advanced. She lies broken at an angle with the bridge completely caved in, so the shape of the ship is not obvious when you arrive and orientation eats into a bottom time you do not have much of.
What she was carrying is what divers come to see. Trucks and motorcycles are still in the cargo holds and on deck, and one hold is full of horse skeletons, the invasion cargo she was officially not carrying at all. Divers also report small round drums aboard that may hold residual mustard gas, which is reason enough to look at anything unidentified rather than move it.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Antares
- Type
- Supply freighter
- Length
- 95.5 m (313 ft)
- Built
- 1937
- Sunk
- 1940
- Cause
- Torpedoed by the submarine HMS Sunfish, one torpedo striking the engine room
- Lies
- Broken at an angle in 53-55 m, with the bridge completely collapsed
On 10 April 1940, less than a day after the Amasis went down, J. E. Slaughter picked up propeller noise on HMS Sunfish's hydrophone and fired two torpedoes. One struck the engine-room bulkhead; Antares broke and caught fire. Built in Lübeck in 1937 and owned by Argo Rederei of Bremen, she was declared as carrying coal but was in fact loaded with tanks, trucks, motorcycles, horses, soldiers, weapons and ammunition for the German invasion of Norway. Thirty-four men got away in the lifeboats, while soldiers trapped below were heard calling for help as she sank.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Bohuslän & Gullmarsfjord: Late winter gives the clearest water once the plankton dies back; Jul–Sep is warmest and easiest for shore entries.
Know before you go
- Divers report small round drums aboard that may be residual mustard gas containers. This is a diver account rather than a confirmed official finding, so leave unidentified drums alone.
- At 53-55 m every minute is decompression diving, and the collapsed bridge and broken hull make a planned exit line worth setting before entering anything.
Dive videos
German WWII cargo ship Antares · Erik Håkansson - Optimala Dyk on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Antares wreck?+
She lies in 53 to 55 m, a few metres deeper than the Amasis. Every part of the dive is decompression diving, and Swedish divers describe her as the most demanding wreck on this coast.
Sources
- Antares dykplats — dykarna.nu
In The Logbook
- Cold-water diving: is it worth the drysuit?Cold water · 8 min read
- Deep wreck diving: where recreational stopsWrecks · 8 min read
- WWII wrecks you can dive, by theatreWrecks · 7 min read
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