A team of researchers has successfully identified the wreck of HMS Stephen Furness, a WWI armed steamer, off the coast of the Isle of Man. Sunk by a German U-boat in 1917, the vessel has remained an enduring mystery, with the wreck recently pinpointed as part of Bangor University's “Towards a National Collection” project.

The wreck lies at a depth of 90m and was previously thought to be that of the Swedish cargo vessel Maja, which was torpedoed with the loss of nine lives a month before the war ended. The team believe they have located SS Maja's remains a few miles further south.

Originally a passenger cargo steamer, HMS Stephen Furness was converted into an armed naval auxiliary vessel during WWI. The ship was part of Britain’s efforts to counter the German U-boat threat, which was causing extensive losses to Allied shipping.  On the afternoon of 13 December 1917, HMS Stephen Furness was in the northern Irish Sea heading for repairs in Liverpool when it was struck by a single torpedo fired from UB-64, which had been stalking the Irish Sea for days.

The impact from the torpedo resulted in an explosion, causing the vessel to sink within three minutes, with the loss of 101 lives and only 12 sailors surviving.

Collaborative effort

The identification of the Stephen Furness was achieved through an interdisciplinary “hyper-network,” incorporating sonar imagery, maritime records and archaeological data. Researchers cross-referenced site details with records to verify the wreck as Stephen Furness. Bangor University led the project, engaging with various heritage and research groups to map and identify significant WWI shipwrecks in British waters. The team said the process could easily be replicated elsewhere.

The discovery was made possible by “Unpath’d Waters”, a maritime research project, and the development programme Towards a National Collection. It involves experts from 25 organisations led by Historic England.