Turkish Aquanaut Discovers The Wreck Of A British Vessel Sunk During WWI

A Turkish aquanaut has discovered a British vessel that reportedly submerged during the Gallipoli campaign in World War I in Çanakkale’s northwestern province that comprises more than 50 epic shipwrecks, daily Milliyet reported.

Selçuk Kolay, who earlier participated in rescue and search activities for warships and submarines from the world wars, resulted in the discovery of the British war transport vessel, HMS Hythe, following nine years of dedication, determination, and hard work.

HMS Hythe departed from the British base Mondros Bay based on Lemnos Island in Greece on 5 October, loaded with war material, Kolay specified.

Revealing the circumstances that resulted in the ship sinking, Kolay mentioned that the vessel that was headed toward the lighthouse in the Ottoman water turned off the lights so that it wouldn’t be caught by the Turkish artillery; following the unloading of its cargo; it ran into a collision with another larger British vessel dubbed HMS Sarnia on its way back.

The Hythe sank in 10 minutes, while 213 individuals, including officers, soldiers, and all other personnel were on board, lost their lives in the accident.

Most of the individuals who passed away did not know how to swim and didn’t even have life jackets. He further mentioned after this accident that, the UK reportedly established new navigation instructions.

Following the submersion of HMS Hythe, families in the UK established an association for the ones who lost their near and dear ones. They’ll be most pleased for this discovery, an expert diver who has earlier dived in this area mentioned.

Elaborating on the ship’s discovery, Karakaş mentioned that the system successfully scanned a nine-square-mile field with side-scan sonar, adding that toward August end, he found a wreck similar to that of Hythe at about 72 meters.

They also successfully proved that the wreck belonged to Hythe, following a dive into the area with aid from Gallipoli’s Historical Site Directorate.

Kolay, who discovered 16 shipwrecks in Çanakkale related to World War I, conducts the studies in the British Library and National Archives in London.

A long stretch of 150 kilometres, including historical wrecks that reportedly sank into the waters of the Historical Gallipoli Peninsula, was transformed into an underwater park on 2 October 2021. The park, designed to contribute to the city of British, Australian, and French vessels with exclusive diving tourism, offers 14 diving points.

References: Hurriyet Daily News, Flipboard