Malin Head · Ireland · Wreck
SS Empire Heritage
A 1944 tanker lost with Sherman tanks aboard, at around 70 m
Area photo: Chmee2 or Mates · CC BY-SA 3.0
A tanker of 15,702 GRT torpedoed 24 kilometres north-west of Malin Head (15 miles) in September 1944 with 16,000 tons of fuel and a consignment of Sherman tanks aboard. She lies in around 70 metres, which makes her a mixed-gas dive on 155 metres of hull, and 112 of the 163 people on board were killed when she went down.
Also known as Empire Heritage.
Where it is and how deep
55.4500° N, 8.0167° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
A day on Empire Heritage is a long steam out to a position 24 kilometres north-west of Malin Head (15 miles), then a single dive on a shot dropped onto the wreck at slack water. She lies in around 70 metres, deep enough that the dive runs on mixed gas with staged decompression and a bottom time measured in minutes rather than tens of them.
She was a tanker of nearly 155 metres, so the hull alone is more than one bottom time takes in and teams work a section at a time. At this depth the water has taken the colour out of everything, and the ship comes in torchlight only: plating and machinery picked out a few metres ahead, the rest of her staying dark on either side. The ascent that follows is longer than the dive.
She went down on 8 September 1944 with 16,000 tons of fuel and a consignment of Sherman tanks aboard, torpedoed by U-482 while sailing with Convoy HXF 305. 112 of the 163 people on board were killed, and the rescue ship Pinto, sent to pick up her survivors, was sunk by the same U-boat. Both wrecks are grave sites.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Empire Heritage
- Type
- Tanker
- Length
- 154.93 m (508 ft)
- Built
- 1930
- Sunk
- 1944
- Cause
- Torpedoed by the German submarine U-482 while sailing with Convoy HXF 305
- Lies
- On the seabed about 24 km north-west of Malin Head (15 miles), in around 70 m
Empire Heritage was a tanker of 15,702 GRT, built in 1930 and measuring 154.93 metres overall. On 8 September 1944, sailing with Convoy HXF 305 off the north coast of Ireland, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-482 while carrying 16,000 tons of fuel and a consignment of Sherman tanks. 112 of the 163 people on board were killed. The rescue ship Pinto, sent to pick up her survivors, was sunk by the same U-boat.
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 Malin Head: May–Sep only, and even then the charter runs on a handful of settled days; Atlantic swell closes the ground for weeks.
Know before you go
- The wreck is in around 70 metres, 24 km offshore (15 miles): mixed gas, staged decompression and a hard boat, with no shallower option once you are out there.
- 112 of the 163 people on board died here, and the wreck is a grave site: charters dive her look-only.
- The ground only opens on settled days between May and September; Atlantic swell closes it for weeks at a time.
Dive videos
Diving over the SS Empire Heritage wreckage · Richard Knights on YouTube
Diving The Empire Heritage North Atlantic Donegal · Peter McCamley on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Empire Heritage wreck?+
She lies about 24 km north-west of Malin Head (15 miles) in around 70 metres of water, which makes her a mixed-gas dive with staged decompression, run as a single dive from a hard boat on a settled day.
What was the Empire Heritage carrying?+
16,000 tons of fuel and a consignment of Sherman tanks, when U-482 torpedoed her on 8 September 1944. 112 of the 163 people on board were killed, and the rescue ship Pinto was sunk by the same submarine.
Sources
- List of Empire ships (H) — Wikipedia
- List of shipwrecks in September 1944 — Wikipedia
- Empire Heritage — Wikipedia (German)
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
- Air, nitrox or trimix: which gas, and when?Gear & kit · 15 min read
- WWII wrecks you can dive, by theatreWrecks · 7 min read
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