Gallipoli · Turkey · Wreck
SS Milo
A 1915 blockship in 7 m off the Anzac landing beaches
Photo: Sinan Şahin · CC BY 3.0
A steam cargo ship grounded by her own crew on 26 October 1915 to make a breakwater for William's Pier on North Beach, next to Anzac Cove. The 74-metre hull is severely damaged but still holds its form in shallow water off the commemorative site, and it lies in water shallow enough to reward snorkellers as well as divers.
Where it is and how deep
40.2336° N, 26.2769° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
One of the shallowest dives in the park sits off the ground the campaign is remembered for: Milo lies off the Anzac commemorative site on North Beach, in water shallow enough to reward snorkellers. Published depths vary — the park's table and Turkish coverage give 7 metres, a British club report 5, a tourism page 15 to 17 — but what you get is a flat, sunlit swim along a broken hull with no depth pressure on the dive at all.
She was put on the bottom deliberately, so there is no debris field and nothing to hunt for: you follow the line of a 74-metre ship that is severely damaged but still reads as a ship, through the shoals of fish that have taken it over — divers describe it as diving in an aquarium. The guide's briefing on October 1915, when the crew grounded her to shelter William's Pier, carries as much of the dive as the wreck does.
The wreck
- Vessel
- SS Milo
- Type
- Steam cargo ship used as a blockship
- Length
- 74 m (243 ft)
- Sunk
- 1915
- Cause
- Grounded by her own crew to form a breakwater for William's Pier
- Lies
- Severely damaged but still holding her form in shallow water off North Beach
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Gallipoli: April–May and August–September bring the best conditions; the wrecks can be dived all year.
Dive videos
SS Milo · Gallipoli Wrecks Dive Centre on YouTube
4K DIVING TURQUIA BATALLA GALLIPOLI PECIO SS MILO · PATXI URUBURU on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can you snorkel the SS Milo wreck?+
Yes — it lies off the Anzac commemorative site on North Beach in water shallow enough to reward snorkellers, with published depths around 5 to 7 m.
Sources
- Gallipoli Wrecks dive site table — Gallipoli Wrecks
- Deep Heritage: cathodic protection for Dardanelles wrecks — Western Front Association
- Shipwreck SS Milo — TracesOfWar
- East Cheshire Sub-Aqua Club Gallipoli trip report — ECSAC
- TRT World: Gallipoli underwater park — TRT World
- Diving Çanakkale — Go Türkiye
- Dardanelli, guida ai relitti della Prima Guerra Mondiale — Scubaportal
- SS Milo — Gallipoli Historic Site Directorate (divinggelibolu.com)
Photo credits
- The Anzac Cove shoreline from above, a narrow pebble beach below scrub-covered cliffs and clear blue water. by Sinan Şahin, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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