some more wrecks on the sea bed

[rippo]

My mate dived the ss heritage empire, off ireland. Here's a link to his site with the pics.

 

http://www.paul-webster.co.uk/Gallery28/index.htm

[N.O.S.]

FANTASTIC B+W pics of the tanks there, Rippo - bet they'd be wonderful to see in the flesh, but can't cope with diving :shocked:

 

Can you give us any story about them?

[M5Clive]

Indeed - Some truly remarkable pictures of a land trapped in time and devoid of 21st Century clutter.

 

What we need is Adrian 'Tank Barrell' to give us a bit of background on the Sherman's in the pictures and the history behind this ship.

[Adrian Barrell]

Well.... the tanks are M4s, Sherman I. Welded hull, radial engine with 75mm guns.

The Heritage Empire was an oil tanker carrying tanks as deck cargo, which left New York on 25th of August 1944 as part of convoy HXF305 bound for Liverpool.

 

She was sunk by a U Boat on 8th of September off North West Ireland. The RFA Pinto was also sunk whilst picking up survivors from the Empire.

 

Fascinating pictures!

[M5Clive]

Fascinating!

 

It really does make you wonder what else is down there - And the feasibility of what could be raised. I am assuming this particular site would be a war grave and therefore illegal to dig for sunken treasure.

 

Thanks for the heads-up Adrian - I guessed you'd know the story.

[Adrian Barrell]

I have to confess....whilst I knew what the tanks were, the rest I googled!

[Jack]

What a great link.

 

 

Those pictures are the most stunning - the photographer most be proud of those.

[RattlesnakeBob]

When you read of the colossal tonnages of shipping lost to enemy action during the convoys across the Atlantic, The Med, The North Sea and The Pacific during the war ....

and then realise that figure actually translates into literally 10 or 20 or 30 or 50 or more ships per week sunk..

.... it certainly does boggle my mind a little to think how many thousands of brand spanking new Shermans / Halftracks / Trucks / Jeeps etc are lying on the ocean floor..........

just think.......brand spanking new Shermans with probably less than half a mile or so 'on the clock'.....straight out of the factory ...onto a ship...then sunk...!

...not to mention thousands of crates of brand new weapons and literally millions of rounds of ammunition ...........all lost & never to be used...........

I often wonder when you read the figures for how many Shermans and Jeeps alone were manufactured..............just how many never saw a single days use whatsoever???????

[timbo]

Fascinating..really good, and more than a little eerie, sort of a bit like something you're not supposed to see if that makes sense (I know - it doesn't)...