HMS Strathgarry

HMS Strathgarry was sunk in a collision with the battleship HMS Monarch in Hoxa Sound on 6 July 1915 when the 2nd Battle Squadron were returning to the Scapa Flow anchorage (www.naval-history.net). One crew member was drowned. She was a single-deck steam trawler used by the Aberdeen Steam Trawling And Fishing Co until hired as a boom defence vessel in June 1915. The wreck today lies upright in good condition in 55-58 metres depth of water (UKHO). Slight scouring of about one metre's depth into the stony seabed can be seen to the north-east.

The wreck was rediscovered by recreational divers in the early 1990s. The wreck is situated in the middle of Hoxa Sound, where the fierce tides give way to conditions of good visibility at slack water, on a seabed of clean white sand and shale.

The hull is essentially upright with a list to port. The recognisable features and fittings include a collapsed foredeck (possibly the site of the collision), four large winches (for handling boom netting and cables) and associated loops of cable and the framework of the wheelhouse (with the wheel, instruments and the base of the funnel). The stub of a mast, the spare anchor, the rudder and the propeller survive aft (Macdonald, 1998). The hull is in excellent condition and still intact; there is much rope on wreck, and the winch drums are still visible. On the port side three metres back from the bow there appears to be a plate missing (measuring about 2ft by 2ft): this would be below the waterline, and was possibly the collision damage that caused her sinking. The wheelhouse is still intact with what remains of the binnacle and wheel still in situ. The deck structure aft is now only one sided; the rear part with the two doors is still standing. Off the wreck on both sides, there are lengths of wire hawser with what looks like winches or blocks of some kind (Mr S Adams, South Queensferry Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC-1262), 22 August 2005 (visited 17 August 2005) in RCAHMS).