Dover & Folkestone Wrecks · United Kingdom · Wreck
SS Loanda
Dover's most dived wreck, a cargo ship lost in 1908
Photo: Marathon · CC BY-SA 2.0
SS Loanda is a cargo steamer lost off Dover in 1908 after a collision, and probably the most dived wreck from the town. She lies in only 18 to 20 m and is often the second dive of a charter day or the choice in poor weather.
Also known as Loanda.
Where it is and how deep
51.1492° N, 1.4119° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The seabed around the Loanda sits at about 20 m and the highest part of the wreckage rises to about 14 m, so the whole dive stays within a narrow, shallow band for this coast. A scour beside the wreck takes the bottom down to about 22 m. Her cargo of gin and wine bottles is still extensive across the site.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Loanda
- Type
- Cargo ship
- Built
- 1891
- Sunk
- 1908
- Cause
- Collision with the Russian steamer Junona
- Lies
- On a seabed of 18 to 20 m, highest point about 14 m, scour to about 22 m
Built in 1891 and owned by Elder Dempster and Co, the Loanda was carrying general cargo from Hamburg to the west coast of Africa when she sank in 1908 after a collision with the Russian steamer Junona.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Dover & Folkestone Wrecks: The dive season runs May to October; some charters sail all year, but the sea feels very cold in March.
Dive videos
LOANDA 1 2014 · DOVER DIVER on YouTube
Sources
- Dover, Wrecks and Sites — Dive125
- Maritime record - Loanda — Kent Historic Environment Record
Photo credits
- Sheer white chalk cliff edge seen from the grassy clifftop, with calm grey-green sea and a pale evening sky beyond by Marathon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Dover & Folkestone Wrecks
Wreck
An upright First World War hospital ship, now a protected wreck
Wreck
A shelled Liberty ship on flat ground at 51 m, the deep end of Dover
A mined WW1 cargo steamer still sitting upright and ship-shaped
Similar dives elsewhere
Boilers in 7 m on the rocks that took a 1907 steamer
Wreck
Anna Katrina Fritzen
Klaipėda & Curonian Spit · Lithuania
A torpedoed steam freighter, pieced together from scattered wreckage
Wreck
Anna Maria
Stockholm Archipelago & Dalarö · Sweden
An Amsterdam-built fluit that caught fire and sank at the Dalarö quay
A century-old cargo wreck open to French Level 1 divers