Maritime record MWX2112 - British Inventor

The BRITISH INVENTOR struck a mine 5 miles off St Albans Head and was beached on Lulworth Banks where she sank. Ship broke in two 30- JUN after which the stern section was towed to Portland and moored in the harbour, later transferred to Southampton where it arrived 31- JUL where she was sold for scrap and broken up. Salvage of the forward section was considered impracticable and was left lying two miles from White Nose. Year Built: 1926 Builder: Palmer and Co. Engine HP: 567 Boilers: 3 Propulsion: Screw driven, 3 cylinder triple expansion engine. Owner: British Tanker Co. Ltd. Crew: 40 Construction: P.deck 103ft.; b.deck 32ft.; f.castle 47ft.; 2 x decks Machinery: aft. Date of Loss Qualifier: A (2)

Surveying History: (1)
19-AUG-1940 Sunk in 50 35 20N, 02 18 30W.

15-FEB-1941 Completely submerged in 50 35 28N, 02 18 28W.

06-NOV-1942 position now reported as 50 35 20N, 02 18 30W.

07-MAR-1947 Chain sweep after dispersal. Clear at 46 feet

22-FEB-1968 Cargo of oil insured by MOT. Hull by UK Mutual War Risks Ltd.

10-FEB-1969 Reported to be broken up.

03-FEB-1975 Depth was 58 in general depth 70 feet. Wreckage consists of twisted plate scattered over area 200 x 150 feet orientated N/S. No obvious scour in rocky seabed. May have, in the past been used as a target - some shell cases seen in the immediate area. No large items of wreckage, such as engine parts or winches seen.

20-NOV-1990 Least echo sounder depth 17.1 In general depth 19m. No scour. Side scan sonar height 1.3M. Very broken wreckage covering area 50 x 30m, approximately, orientated 090/270 deg. Isolated wreckage lies 30m away in 50 35 23.7N, 02 18 26W. (1) Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index: LCWLR.1939-45 p84; GPCS. p54; DD. p120; Wreck and Rescue on the Dorset Coast Farr 1971 p57; LR 1939 40 No 21345(B).

Gross tonnage

Position 50 35.40 N 2 18.37W taken from (7)

<1> United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1992, Hydrographic Office wreck index (Index). SWX4837.

<2> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23 November 1992 (Index). SWX5030.

<3> 1989, Lloyds war losses: the Second World War 3 September-14 August 1945, p84 (Index). SWX4997.

<4> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1984, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (1st Edition), p120 (Monograph). SWX1714.

<5> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<6> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 062 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<7> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1999, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (3rd Edition) (Monograph). SWX1.

<8> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 17 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 904657 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 14 2023 7:39PM