Bid to save history of first war 
beneath 
the waves

English Heritage has announced it is embarking on an ambitious project to identify and then analyse the submarines a century after they sank during the First World War to mark the centenary of the start of the war next year.

Initial studies conducted using historical records have managed to identify three British and 41 German submarines which are known to have sunk in territorial waters within 12 miles of the coast.

Several of the submarines which were lost are known to be in the waters off Yorkshire, and local diving groups are due to be recruited to help carry out the research project.

The locations of about half of the 44 identified vessels are known, and the divers will help to pinpoint the sites of the other lost submarines.

A marine archaeologist with English Heritage, Mark Dunkley, said: “These sites may be out of sight, but they are still an important part of our heritage.

“There are people still around who will have a link to the men lost on these boats. They are an important part of family, as well as military, history.

“People might know more about U-boats in the Second World War, but this project will show just what a significant part they played in the First World War – and very close to land.”

Most of the wrecks which are involved in the project, which is expected to run throughout the four years of the anniversary commemorations, were German submarines which were targeting coastal routes, either attacking merchant shipping with torpedoes or laying mines.

Among the submarines lost off the Yorkshire coast is UB107, which sank off Flamborough Head in July 1918.

The precise reason why the vessel sank is not known, although it could have been as a result of an attack by British vessels, an accident, or because it hit a mine.

Another submarine, UB41, was last sighted by the SS Melbourne on October 5, 1917, in the waters off Scarborough, before it is thought to have struck a mine or suffered an internal explosion.

A third submarine, UB75, which had left Borkum on November 29, 1917, for the Whitby area, succeeded in sinking four ships but never returned home.

All three of the Royal Navy submarines which have been identified in the project were lost in accidents including HMS G3, which ran aground in Filey Bay after the war in 1921.

English Heritage has responsibility for all historic wrecks off the English coast, but most of those it cares for are wooden warships.

Once the submarines have been located, English Heritage intends to assess their condition before deciding whether any measures can be taken to slow down the rate of decay of the shipwrecks on the seabed.

Depending on their historical significance, the vessels may also be added to existing list of shipwrecks covered by the Protection of Wrecks Act, or scheduled as ancient monuments.

If the vessels sank with men on board, they may be added to a register covered by the Protection of Military Remains Act, to ensure the war graves cannot be disturbed.