Roker, Inverlane

HER Number:
12756

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Roker, Inverlane

Place:
Roker

Map Sheet:
NZ45NW NZ46SW

Class:
Maritime Craft

Site Type: Broad:
Transport Vessel

Site Type: Specific:
Tanker

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Wreckage

Description:
A steel 9141 ton British motor-tanker, registered in London. She was built in 1938 for the Inver Tanker Co. Ltd in Germany using frozen currency. The 7 Inver Tankers were meant to supply an oil refinery at Dublin, which was never built. On 14 December 1939 the Inverlane was en route from Abadan to Invergorden with a cargo of fuel and furnace oil when she detonated a German-laid mine off the coast of Tynemouth. The explosion left one crew member dead, 3 missing and several seriously injured. For 36 hours she drifted over 26 miles. She burned for five days and was used at night as a marker by the Germans. She sank 1 mile north of Roker lighthouse. In July 1940 the ship was cut into two halves. The fore-part was taken to South Shields for repairs then towed to the Hughs Bolckow Shipbreaking Co. Ltd at Blyth for conversion into a blockship. The wreck off Seaburn covers a considerable area and is collapsed. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. N 54 56 294 W 001 21 002 or N 54 56 305 W 001 21 003. Sunderland Echo headlines Saturday 16 December 1939 'GHOST SHIP COMES ASHORE AT DAWN IN SANDY BAY ON THE NORTH EAST COAST'.

Easting:
4416

Northing:
5931

Grid Reference:
NZ44165931

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Ron Young, 2001, The Comprehensive Guide to Shipwrecks of the North East Coast, Volume Two (1918-2000), pages 112-114; Sunderland Echo Saturday 16 December 1939; Peter Collings, 1991, The New Divers Guide to the North East Coast, page 22; National Monuments Record MONUMENT NUMBER: 908720; Hydrographic Office wreck index Extracted 09-Mar-1993; Maritime and Coastguard Agency: Receiver of Wreck Amnesty (23-Jan to 24-Apr-2001); 1989 Lloyd's war losses: the Second World War 3 September-14 August 1945, Volumes I and II Page(s)28; Dave Shaw and Barry Winfield 1988 Dive north east : a Diver guide No 41 Page(s)40; 1988 British vessels lost at sea 1914-18 and 1939-45 Page(s)5; 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)