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A North Sea survey of the proposed MarramWind floating offshore wind farm site by the Fugro Galaxy survey vessel discovered the wreckage of a Russian World War I merchant vessel.
The survey, for what could be one of the first floating offshore wind farms in the world, revealed the likely resting place of the SS Tobol, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1917.
The shipwreck believed to be that of Tobol was among several discovered during the survey works for the 3GW wind farm being developed by Iberdrola’s subsidiary ScottishPower and energy giant Shell.
The discovery of the ship, with its distinctive turret deck, solved a 107-year-old maritime mystery. The vessel, built in Sunderland, worked as the SS Cheltenham by a steamer company until it was captured by Russian warships in 1904.
A year later, it was transferred to the Russian Imperial Navy and renamed SS Tobol, before being relocated to the Russian Volunteer Fleet in 1916. It was torpedoed on September 11, 1917, while sailing from Blyth to Arkhangelsk.
After the discovery, an exclusion zone of 250 m was put in place around the 100m long, 22.5m wide, and 10.5m high wreck which, according to MarramWind, appears to be in good condition.
“This really is an extraordinary find, given that our seabed surveys – which give us vital information about seabed conditions and what that means for the development of MarramWind – covered a distance of around 6,000 miles,” said Colin Anderson, development manager for MarramWind.
He added that wrecks are often found during surveys but those are mostly smaller vessels and known to the authorities.
“While the Tobol was known to have been torpedoed in the war, its location was unclear, so to discover it after more than a century and uncover its history is something special,” Anderson added.
Relevant authorities like the UK Hydrographic Office and Historic Environment Scotland have been notified of the find and discussions are ongoing to establish a long-term archaeological exclusion zone to ensure the wreck of the SS Tobol is protected and preserved.
“It’s incredible that – more than a century on – we finally have a sense of where the SS Tobol likely went down thanks to MarramWind,” said Toby Gane, marine and coastal cultural heritage and archaeology lead for engineering services firm WSP. |
