British warship HMS Hawke found off Scottish coast after century

Off the coast of Scotland, the wreck of a British warship that was sunk during World War I has been discovered. HMS Hawke was found by a team of divers around 130 kilometres east of Fraserburgh. It sank in October 1914.

For years, groups of scientists have verified data to identify the ship resting on the seabed. They even checked the logs of the German U-boat commander to determine where the ship was hit.

Steve Mortimer from the Lost in Waters Deep group mentioned that while they spent years analyzing data, their time on-site was limited to just a few hours. The group now awaits confirmation of their findings from the Royal Navy.

The ship discovered near Fraserburgh is most likely HMS Hawke. It was attacked in October 1914 by a German U-boat. The vessel caught fire, followed by an explosion, and the ship went down in eight minutes.

A total of 524 crew members died. 70 sailors survived the disaster, escaping from the sinking ship.

HMS Hawke, an Edgar-class cruiser, was 118 metres long and 18 metres wide and launched in 1891. Three years before the German attack, in 1911, it was severely damaged in a collision with the sister ship of the Titanic, RMS Olympic.

When World War I broke out, the ship's crew was included in the 10th Cruiser Squadron and assigned to a naval blockade in the Shetland area. Later, in the southern North Sea, it protected Canadian soldier convoys from German attacks. A German torpedo from U-9 hit HMS Hawke on October 15, 1914.

The Lost in Waters Deep group discovered the wreck on August 12. It rested 110 metres below the water's surface. Diver Steve Mortimer said the U-boat commander's log was not the only document analyzed to identify the British ship. They also sought accounts from Scottish fishermen from the 1980s who documented obstacles on marine routes.

Mortimer called the ship a "time capsule." He said that looking through the portholes, you can see extraordinary items inside the vessel. Cups, bowls, and plates are on the floor. Some bear the signature of the Royal Navy of Great Britain.

Source: BBC, tvn24.pl