A four-year investigation combining archival research, sonar and technical diving has identified the long-lost Royal Navy destroyer south of the Isle of Wight.
Divers documenting the bow section of HMS Tiger
The wreck of HMS Tiger, a Royal Navy torpedo boat destroyer lost with 35 members of her crew in 1908, has been found and identified south of the Isle of Wight after a nearly four-year investigation.
An international team from ProjectXplore located the wreck using archival research, magnetometer and side-scan sonar surveys followed by technical diving, underwater photography and 3D photogrammetry. The Royal Navy subsequently announced the identification on 10 August 2026.
The wreck lies in two sections approximately 140m apart at a depth of around 62m. Its precise location is being withheld to protect the site.
Four-year search
ProjectXplore began researching HMS Tiger in September 2022, using Admiralty records to reconstruct the circumstances of her loss and define a likely search area.
A sonar survey on 10 March 2026 produced a promising target. Divers located and documented the stern section on 23 and 24 June.
Finding the bow presented a different challenge. On 8 and 9 July, Joe Colls Burnett, Dan McMullen and Leo Fielding set off from the stern on underwater scooters, following a pre-calculated compass bearing across the seabed in almost complete darkness. After travelling for nearly five minutes, the bow appeared where their calculations had predicted.
The final high-resolution side-scan survey was completed on 24 July.
Identified from multiple clues
Identification did not depend upon finding a nameplate or other single definitive artefact. Instead, the team compared the wreck's dimensions, machinery, armament and structural arrangement with contemporary plans and historical accounts.
Among the features documented were two deck-mounted 18-inch torpedo tubes, Hotchkiss 6-pounder guns and ammunition, evidence of the ship's 12-pounder gun and four distinctive three-drum Normand boilers.
Divers also recorded four period Dent & Co. fluid compasses, the rudder assembly, starboard propeller and shaft, and a ship's bell with the letters "HMS" visible beneath marine concretion.
Crucially, the principal break in the hull corresponds with contemporary accounts stating that Tiger was struck between her second and third funnels.
ProjectXplore also developed a method using Python and QGIS to obtain measurements directly from georeferenced sonar data. The team reports that no dimensions or structural features inconsistent with HMS Tiger were found.
Disaster during night exercises
HMS Tiger was a C-class, 30-knot torpedo boat destroyer built by J & G Thomson at Clydebank. Launched in 1900 and completed the following year, she displaced approximately 425 tonnes fully loaded.
On the evening of 2 April 1908, Tiger was participating in Royal Navy night attack exercises in the English Channel. The exercises were conducted without navigation lights.
At approximately 8.15pm, the destroyer crossed the bow of the much larger 9,800-tonne armoured cruiser HMS Berwick. The cruiser struck Tiger amidships, cutting her in two.
The stern sank within minutes. The bow remained afloat only briefly before following it to the seabed. Thirty-five members of the crew died, including commanding officer Lieutenant William Middleton.
A subsequent court martial found no blame attributable to any surviving member of Tiger's crew or any other person, while Admiral Sir Arthur Fanshawe stated that no blame could be attributed to the captain or officers of Berwick.
Despite an extensive Royal Navy search following the collision, the wreck's final resting place remained unknown for 118 years.
Documented, not disturbed
No artefacts were recovered during ProjectXplore's investigation. The wreck and surviving features were photographed, filmed, measured and recorded in situ using 3D photogrammetry.
That approach reflects the organisation's stated principles of education, conservation and remembrance. The site is not only a historically important naval wreck but also the final resting place of sailors killed in the disaster.
The discovery comes as the UK Parliament considers changes to the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Clause 48 of the Armed Forces Bill would automatically give British vessels sunk or stranded while in military service Protected Place status, rather than requiring each wreck to be individually designated.
Importantly for divers, Protected Place status does not prohibit diving on a wreck. Divers may visit, but interference with the remains, disturbance of the site and removal of material are restricted.
The Royal Navy has highlighted the discovery of HMS Tiger in connection with the proposed legislation, emphasising the role divers can play in discovering and documenting Britain's submerged military heritage while respecting wrecks that are also final resting places.
Discovery to feature in documentary
The four-year search and identification will also feature in a forthcoming documentary from History Hit, presented by historian Dan Snow, who was aboard during parts of the investigation. The programme is expected to premiere in early 2027.
For ProjectXplore, however, the discovery concludes a search that began not with sonar or diving but with historical records. By combining archival detective work with modern survey technology and technical diving, the team has finally put a location—and physical remains—to the story of HMS Tiger and the 35 sailors who died with her.
