HMS Port Napier
 Part of the visible remains of the Port Napier |
|
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Port Napier |
| Owner: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Swan Hunter |
| Launched: | 1940 |
| Fate: | Destroyed by Explosion/Engine Room Fire, 27 November 1940 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Minelayer |
| Displacement: | 9,600 GT (gross tonnage) |
The Port Napier was taken over by the Admiralty during its construction and converted to lay mines. After being loaded with her cargo, she dragged her anchor during a gale in the Kyle of Loch Alsh on 26 November 1940 and grounded in shallow water.[1] While being unloaded there was a fire in the engine room, whereupon the harbour and towns nearby were evacuated, and she was towed well out into the loch and cast adrift in anticipation of an explosion.[1]
A massive explosion on 27 November, which fortuitously did not set off any of the mines, blew her apart and she tipped over on her starboard side and sank in 20 metres of water with her port side visible at low tide.[2]
In 1955 the Royal Navy took off the steel plating on her port side and removed the mines and 4000 anti-aircraft shells.[2]
The wreck is a popular, if silty, site for scuba diving owing to its relative intactness and shallow location 57°15.98′N 5°41.18′W / 57.26633°N 5.68633°WCoordinates: 57°15.98′N 5°41.18′W / 57.26633°N 5.68633°W.
[edit] See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: HMS Port Napier |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Gordon MacKay. "The Wreck of the Port Napier". Dive and Sea the Hebredies. http://www.dive-and-sea-the-hebrides.co.uk/documents/hms-port-napier.pdf.
- ^ a b John Liddiard (February 2000). "Port Napier Wreck Tour". Diver Magazine. p. 42–44. http://www.dive-and-sea-the-hebrides.co.uk/documents/WT%20Port%20Napier.pdf.
