Sunderland, Saga

Steel, 1,143-ton, British steamship, registered at Newcastle upon Tyne. She was built in 1901 and owned by Robinson, Brown & Co. of Newcastle. At the time of loss she was owned by The Shipping Controller. Her single steel propeller was powered by a three-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engine that used one boiler.
One report says that on 1 August 1915 the Saga was in ballast on passage from Marseilles for the Tyne when she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U28, four miles east-north-east of the River Wear. Ten of her crew are said to have died, but the book ‘British Vessels Lost at Sea’ (no reference given) reports that no lives were lost.
A further report by AJ Tennent in his book ‘British Merchant Ships Sunk by U-Boats in the 1914-1918 War’ (no reference given) says that on 14 February 1918, the Saga was on passage from Sunderland to Rouen, with a cargo of coal when she was torpedoes by the German U-boat and sunk four miles east-north-east of Sunderland.

The wreck lies on a seabed of fine sand and mud in a general depth of 40m. she is quite substantial, but most of the vessel has now collapsed, exposing her boiler, engine, condenser and donkey-engine. The highest section of 5m is around midships and her bows, which are covered in soft corals. Lots of broken machinery, bollards, winches, anchors, large sections of hollow mast and various pipes lie scattered among the collapsed steel plates.

Grid reference conversion made 09.02.2011 with http://gps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/etrs89geo_natgrid.asp with Lat/Long referenced as N 54 56 2 W 01 15 55