A team of British divers has welcomed the discovery of the “largely intact” wreck of what is believed to be a Royal Navy warship sunk during World War I off the coast of Scotland.
Earlier this week, researchers discovered a ship in the North Sea that they believe to be the HMS Hawk, which was sunk by a German torpedo in October 1914.
Paul Downs, one of the divers who filmed the long-lost wreck, said it was a “once in a lifetime” find given its “incredible” condition.
“The ship is pretty much intact,” he told AFP. “It’s incredible how well preserved it is for a ship that sank 110 years ago and met a tragic end.”
Lost in Waters Deep, a group that searches for World War I shipwrecks in Scottish waters, has spearheaded a years-long effort to find the warship.
The team has submitted their findings to the Royal Navy and are currently awaiting official confirmation.
Of the crew of HMS Hawk, which was attacked by a German submarine early in World War I, only 70 survived and over 500 were killed.
The warship was an Edgar-class cruiser launched in 1891, 387 feet (118 m) long and 60 feet wide.
The ship caught fire, exploded and disappeared into the murky waters of the North Sea off the northeast coast of Scotland within eight minutes.
The ship has remained submerged 110 metres below the surface ever since.
Downs said depth likely played a role in the save.
Despite being submerged for over a century, its guns and other weapons, decks, and interior machinery such as clocks and wall-mounted barometers were all still visible.
“This will allow us to avoid the storms that form in the North Sea during the winter,” Downs said.
He also noted that the warship was built at the height of the British Empire using materials of the “absolute highest quality”.
“All the brass parts of the wreck are still shiny, like the portholes and the cracks in the deck guns, probably because the ship was so well built.”
Lost in Waters Deep spent years trying to pinpoint the exact location where the warship is believed to have sunk, including examining the U-boat captain’s logbook and the logs of other Navy cruisers that were in contact with the U-boat.
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The team was also helped by reports of an undersea “obstacle” reported in the 1980s, but the actual wreck was found about a kilometre (more than half a mile) away.
HMS Hawke was one of the first Royal Navy ships lost in the war, as the British fleet initially struggled to adapt to the threat of German U-boats.
“Historically, she’s a very important figure,” Downs noted.
He predicted it would be impossible to safely salvage the wreck, which has been lying on the seabed for so long, but the final decision would rest with the Royal Navy.
“I imagine the ship will become a controlled wreck and be classified as a war grave.
“So at some point in the future, you may be able to dive, but you can’t touch anything.
“It’s basically an archaeological site, so everything has been filmed, photographed and left as is.”
The Royal Navy told British media it appreciated the efforts to find the wreck.
“Once evidence supporting this discovery is received, historians will be able to formally identify the wreck,” the spokesman said.
