Roker, Trident

HER Number:
12753

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Roker, Trident

Place:
Roker

Map Sheet:
NZ45NW

Class:
Maritime Craft

Site Type: Broad:
Transport Vessel

Site Type: Specific:
Cargo Vessel

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Wreckage

Description:
A steel 4317 ton British steamship, registered in Newcastle-upon Tyne. 114.3m long, 15.57m beam and 7.69m draught. She was built in 1917 by the Sunderland Ship Building Co. and at the time of her loss, was owned by the Quayside Shipping Co. Ltd. Her single propeller was powered by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine. Her machinery was built by the North East Marine Engineering Co. Ltd at Sunderland. On 1 August 1941 the Trident had just arrived from Montreal with a cargo of grain and beans, when she was bombed by German aircraft while standing at anchor offshore. The crew abandoned ship. She sank the following day. No positive identification has been made for this site. Two sets of coordinates have been supplied both of large wrecks - the first puts the wreck five and quarter miles east of Roker lighthouse N 54 55 30 W 001 14 00. Survey vessels failed to find her here in 1952 and 1957. Modern Admiralty charts do show a large wreck close to these co-ordinates at a depth of 46m. The second set of coordinates are for a wreck that lies five and a half miles south-east of the River Tyne South Pier N 54 00 849 W 001 14 065 at a depth of 52m. The NMR lists this wreck as 4 miles from bouy 20C, Tynemouth. This wreck lies in two large sections and has been dived on several occasions. Large portholes and the brass steering helm which bears the words 'John Hastie & Coy Ltd, Greenock, Patent 2464' have already been recovered. Efforts to trace the numbers have been fruitless.

Easting:
4360

Northing:
5825

Grid Reference:
NZ43605825

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Ron Young, 2001, The Comprehensive Guide to Shipwrecks of the North East Coast, Volume Two (1918-2000), pages 107-108; National Monuments Record MONUMENT NUMBERS 1369895 and 908714, Ian T. Spokes Wreck Database; Richard and Bridget Larn 1997 Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 3. The east coast of England : Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, County Durham, Northumberland Section 6, County Durham (CF); 1989 Lloyd's war losses: the Second World War 3 September-14 August 1945, Volumes I and II Page(s)281; 1988 British vessels lost at sea 1914-18 and 1939-45 Section IV Page(s)25