St Abbs & Eyemouth · United Kingdom · Wreck
Glanmire
A 1912 steamer at 30 m, propeller still standing
Area photo: Bob Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Glanmire is the most accessible worthwhile wreck in the St Abbs area: a steamship that struck Black Carr in June 1912 and now lies north of St Abbs Head in about 30 metres of water. Ninety-odd years of salt water flattened most of it, but the steel propeller and the boilers still stand upright.
Also known as SS Glanmire.
Where it is and how deep
55.9205° N, 2.1374° WPublished position for this site.
The dive
The boat run is short, only a few minutes from the harbour, and the dive is shotted and timed for slack, with perhaps half an hour of it depending on how neap the tide is. You drop into about 30 metres onto a wreck that is largely flattened, ninety-odd years of salt water having taken its toll, though there are places where the wreckage still rises about 5 metres from the bottom.
The propeller, a steel one, stands upright, as do the boilers, and those are the pieces to orient on. Much of the wreckage is covered in white and orange soft corals with other invertebrates established between them, so the Glanmire ends up resembling the colourful reefs this stretch of coast is known for rather than a bare steel hull.
Fish use it heavily. Some years the wreck gets adopted by huge shoals of coalfish, and there are usually plenty of big pollack, with wary cod and ling holding under the wreckage. It is an excellent place to find big mature wolf-fish and the occasional conger in the broken structure. Watch the clock rather than the fish: the plan is to be back at the shotline before slack ends.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Glanmire
- Type
- Steamship
- Length
- 74 m (243 ft)
- Sunk
- 1912
- Cause
- Struck Black Carr
- Lies
- Largely flattened north of St Abbs Head in about 30 m, with the propeller and boilers standing upright.
The Glanmire was a steamship of 74 m (242.2 ft), lost on 25 June 1912 after striking Black Carr, the exposed rock across the bay from St Abbs harbour. She came to rest north of St Abbs Head in about 30 metres of water, only a few minutes from the harbour, and is often diveable when conditions inshore are not. Nine decades of salt water have flattened much of the structure, leaving a wreck that is mostly debris field, with the boilers and the steel propeller as the pieces that still stand.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-season | Off-season | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Fair | Off-season |
Season follows St Abbs & Eyemouth: Apr–Oct is the season, with Jun–Sep giving the warmest water and calmest seas; winter northerlies make the coast unworkable.
Know before you go
- Slack can be as short as half an hour. Staying past the end of it means a difficult ascent up the shotline, or being swept along and surfacing hundreds of metres from your boat, possibly unseen.
- It is gloomy down there and bitingly cold in spring, when four or five degrees can be expected. A drysuit is highly recommended and a torch is needed to make sense of the wreckage.
Dive videos
The Glanmire Wreck · Stu Mclaren. North Sea Diver on YouTube
Wreck Dive on the Glanmire · Mike Clark Underwater Photos on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is the Glanmire wreck?+
The wreck lies in about 30 metres of water north of St Abbs Head. Most of it is flattened, though some places rise about 5 metres from the bottom, so the working depth is close to the seabed.
Is the Glanmire a beginner dive?+
No. It is not a dive for the inexperienced: 30 metres, it can be very gloomy, it is bitingly cold in spring at four or five degrees, and it is diveable only within a slack window that can be as short as half an hour.
Sources
- Wreck of the Glanmire — St. Abbs Community Website
- Wrecks and Obstructions within UK EEZ — UK Hydrographic Office, ADMIRALTY Marine Data Portal
In The Logbook
- Cold-water diving: is it worth the drysuit?Cold water · 8 min read
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