Klaipėda & Curonian Spit · Lithuania · Wreck
SS Edith Bosselman
A Maersk-built freighter whose bell carries another ship’s name
The SS Edith Bosselman is a small freighter with a passenger deck, built for Maersk as the Rita Maersk and sunk by a mine laid by a Russian submarine during the Second World War. It lies off Klaipėda and has seen few divers. The draw is a deep, little-visited wreck whose identity was pieced together only after its bell came up.
Also known as SS Edith Bosselmann, Edith Bosselmann, Edith Bosselman, Rita Maersk.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Klaipėda & Curonian Spit and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
The freighter rests on its port side, its shallowest structure at 42 m and the seabed at 52 m. Among the first finds on board were the helm and the bathroom of the first-class quarters; the holds carried coal, the hull is steel and the bridge was built of wood. Trawlers have since hit the wreck hard, and the bridge is now almost completely destroyed.
The wreck
- Vessel
- SS Edith Bosselman
- Type
- Small freighter with a passenger deck
- Cause
- Struck a mine laid by a Russian submarine
- Lies
- On its port side off Klaipėda at 42–52 m
Built for AP Møller's Maersk company as the Rita Maersk, the ship was sold shortly before the Second World War to Eduard Bosselman, a Gdańsk merchant, who sailed it under the Danish flag as the Edith. It took the name Edith Bosselman only months before it sank. The bell, recovered for the Lithuanian Sea Museum, carries the name SS Marsdiep, and measuring the hull proved the wreck was not that ship.
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 | Good | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Klaipėda & Curonian Spit: July and August bring the warmest water; winter is the coldest stretch, with the sea averaging about 5 °C.
Know before you go
- Fishing nets partly cover the wreck, and trawling has torn away much of its structure.
Sources
- Wreck Diving in Lithuania — X-Ray Mag
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