Mayotte · France · Wreck
Dwyn Wen
A 1906 schooner in 15 m, her masts still above water
Photo: hans wakataitea from whangarei, new zealand · CC BY 2.0
The Dwyn Wen is a 1906 schooner-yacht that spent her last years derelict at anchor off the Badamiers mudflat at Mayotte and finally went down on 4 January 2014, landing in 15 m of water with both masts and part of her rigging left standing above the surface. She is a little over 32 m long, and a varied fauna has colonised the hull since.
Also known as USS Dwyn Wen (IX-58).
Where it is and how deep
12.7800° S, 45.2643° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
There is no hunting for the shotline on this one: the schooner's two masts and part of her rigging still stand clear of the water, and the rig runs down to the hull below. She is 32.31 m long with a teak deck, a sailing yacht rather than a working ship, and at 15 m there is time to follow her whole length and come back along the other side on a single tank.
A varied fauna has taken over the hull since she went down, and the wreck has become one of the sites divers use around Dzaoudzi. Her two masts were rigged to carry close to 400 m² of canvas, so the standing gear running up towards the surface is the feature to finish on, following it back up the way you came down at the end of the dive.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Dwyn Wen
- Type
- Schooner-rigged sailing yacht
- Length
- 32.31 m (106 ft)
- Built
- 1906
- Sunk
- 2014
- Cause
- Left derelict at anchor, heavily damaged by a storm in 2004 and sunk by continued weathering
- Lies
- In 15 m off Dzaoudzi, both masts and part of the rigging still breaking the surface
Built in 1906 at James Burton's yard in Dartmouth for Philip & Son, the Dwyn Wen was a high-end sailing yacht carrying close to 400 m² of canvas on two masts. The US Navy requisitioned her in the Second World War as the auxiliary schooner USS Dwyn Wen (IX-58), and she took part in the capture of a Japanese submarine. Cruises between Hawaii and French Polynesia followed, then a sale in 1977 to the treasure hunter John Guthrie, who took her to the western Indian Ocean with Nosy Be as her home port. She ended up moored off the Badamiers mudflat at Mayotte, needing repairs that never came; a storm in 2004 did heavy damage, and ten years of weather finished her on 4 January 2014.
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 | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Mayotte: Dry season (May-Oct) brings calm seas and the clearest water, coinciding with the Jul-Sep humpback whale season; the wet season (Nov-Apr) raises cyclone risk.
Photos from Dwyn Wen
hans wakataitea from whangarei, new zealand · CC BY 2.0
hans wakataitea from whangarei, new zealand · CC BY 2.0
hans wakataitea from whangarei, new zealand · CC BY 2.0
Dive videos
MAYOTTE - ÉPAVE EN APNÉE - DWYN WEN - 15 mètre de fond · Pöppy on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Dwyn Wen wreck?+
She sits in 15 m of water off Dzaoudzi, and her two masts and part of her rigging still break the surface, so the whole wreck is well within recreational range.
What was the Dwyn Wen?+
A schooner-rigged sailing yacht of 32.31 m, built at Dartmouth in 1906 for Philip & Son and requisitioned by the US Navy in the Second World War as USS Dwyn Wen (IX-58). She sank off Mayotte on 4 January 2014.
Sources
- Dwyn Wen — Wikipédia
Photo credits
- Encrusted double ship's wheel on the sunken schooner Dwyn Wen by hans wakataitea from whangarei, new zealand, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Anchor windlass on the wreck's foredeck tangled with lines by hans wakataitea from whangarei, new zealand, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Porthole and hatch fitting on the sunken schooner's hull by hans wakataitea from whangarei, new zealand, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Mast and rigging cables draped across the wreck of the schooner Dwyn Wen by hans wakataitea from whangarei, new zealand, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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