--- title: "Divers Discover Epic Shipwreck From World War II" description: "While on the hunt for a different shipwreck, a group of divers happened upon some wreckage that seems to be from a lost fleet of warships." date: "2023-07-19" modified: "2023-07-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/divers-discover-world-war-two-shipwreck" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "shipwreck" - "the digest" - "United Kingdom" - "warship" --- # Divers Discover Epic Shipwreck From World War II ![While on the hunt for a different shipwreck, a group of divers happened upon some wreckage that seems to be from a lost fleet of warships.]() *\Image: The Gasperados\* ## War Games While on the hunt for a different shipwreck, a group of divers happened upon mysterious undersea ruins that appear to be from a lost fleet of British warships. As the [scuba diving website *Divernet* reports](), a United Kingdom-based volunteer dive team known as the Gasperados were looking for remnants of a private shipwreck off the coast of Cornwall, England when they encountered a strange and altogether unexpected wreck site. After photographing the wreckage, which was nearly 100 meters down in the Celtic Sea, the Gasperados got in touch with an associate history professor at Plymouth University named Harry Bennett to see if he could help them figure out what they'd found. The professor, *Divernet* reports, suggested that the wreckage may be one of the British Royal Navy's landing craft tanks (LCTs), some of which were sunken by a storm while being towed from the European theater to the Far East in anticipation of escalation in the Second World War's Pacific Theater. https://twitter.com/RoyalNavy/status/1681304912087638018 ## A Watery Grave As *Divernet* reports, the vessels in the British Royal Navy’s 9th LCT Flotilla were being towed towards the Mediterranean Sea in October 1944 when massive winds began to overwhelm the carriers, which weren't built to withstand such conditions. More than 50 crew died, and six of the nine LCTs in the flotilla sank. "The tragic story of the lost convoy of LCTs which this wreck brings to the fore is a brutal reminder that in the midst of war," Bennett told the website, "our mariners still had to contend with the old foes of unrelenting storms and the cruel sea to sometimes deadly effect." While the official sinking position of *LCT 488*, the carrier that the professor believes the Gasperados found, is about 45 miles from where they found it, it's not uncommon, the report notes, for winds and waves to move lightweight vessels like these tank carriers around. As *Divernet* notes, photos taken at the wreckage site suggest details consistent with other LCTs of the era, and although they can't be fully certain which of the lost tank carriers the Gasperados found, it's nevertheless very compelling evidence that they found *something* from the World War II era. "The tragic story of the lost convoy of LCTs which this wreck brings to the fore is a brutal reminder that in the midst of war," Gasperados diver Steve Mortimer told the website, "our mariners still had to contend with the old foes of unrelenting storms and the cruel sea to sometimes deadly effect." **More on shipping strangeness:** [*A Cruise Ship Pulled Up for a Beautiful View. Then Blood Started Turning the Water Red*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()