Tynemouth, Empire Knoll

HER Number:
12978

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
Tynemouth, Empire Knoll

Place:
Tynemouth

Map Sheet:
NZ36NE

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 2824 ton steamship built by Greys at Hartlepool. The Empire Knoll was anchored off the north Tyne pier, waiting to load and set sail on her maiden voyage, when she broke loose and struck the foundations of the old pier and sank. She was heavily salvaged and then left to the mercy of the sea. She is now well broken up and dispersed over a wide area (Collings). Steel, 2, 824-ton, 94.64m long, 13.51m beam and 589m draught. The Empire Knoll was a British steamship, registered in West Hartlepool. She was built in 1941 by W. Gray & Co. Ltd at West Hartlepool and owned at the time of loss by the Ministry of Shipping. Her single steel propeller was powered by a three-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engine. Her aft-positioned machinery was built by Central Marine Engineering Works Ltd at West Hartlepool. She had a cruiser-stern, one deck, a 53.4m quarter-deck and an 11.3m forecastle. On 17 February 1941, the newly-built Empire Knoll was lying at anchor off the north pier off Tynemouth, waiting to load up with coal for her maiden voyage to Lisbon and Huelva when she broke loose, struck the old pier foundations and foundered. She was heavily salvaged soon after and her remains were left to the mercy of the elements. The wreck is now totally collapsed and well-dispersed, close to the pier foundations on the north side, in a general depth of about 10m (Spokes and NMR record depth as 5m). All that remains now are bent steel sheets, ribs, sections of hollow masts, engine parts, a few battered copper pipes and pieces of broken machinery lying scattered under kelp bed. Grid reference conversion made 08.12.2010 with http://gps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/etrs89geo_natgrid.asp with Lat/Long referenced as N 55 00 57 W 01 24 7

Easting:
3834

Northing:
6919

Grid Reference:
NZ38346919

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Peter Collings, 1991, The New Divers Guide to the North-East Coast, page 38; Young, R. (2001) Comprehensive guide to Shipwrecks of the North East Coast (The): Volume Two, Tempus, Gloucestershire. p. 159; National Monument Record (1348763); Ian T. Spokes Wreck Database, Inga Project; 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); Maritime and Coastguard Agency: Receiver of Wreck Amnesty (23-Jan to 24-Apr-2001)