Somerset Divers Forum

[smurf]

This has been one of my favorite dives of 2008.
Easily reached by boat from Plymouth and right next door to the Scylla, I would happily just dive this wreck.
It is easy to navigate and full of interesting cargo and views that are amazing especially on a bright day.

The James Egan Layne lies shotted in Whitsand Bay, Plymouth, and is an extremely popular British wreck because of its depth. It sank in March 1945 after ferrying men and materials across the world for the war effort. At the height of World War II, it was clear that cargo vessels were being sunk at a rate faster than which they could be built. In an effort to maintain the supply of food, vehicles and other equipment to the troops, the Americans found a way of welding aptly called 'Liberty' ships together that were 400 feet long weighing in at around 7000 tons in just 24 hours by an almost entirely female workforce. After being hit by a torpedo from a German U-boat near the Eddystone reef, the James Egan Layne was towed towards Plymouth in order to save as much of her cargo as possible. However on the way back, her stern collapsed causing her to sink in Whitsand bay, where she still sits upright, pointing north towards the shore.
After sinking her masts and funnel still stood proud out of the water and making it an easy dive location to find. However, in the late 1960's it was deemed a hazard to the local shipping traffic and so the bridge and the masts were razed to the seabed where they can still be seen to the port side. Most of the cargo was removed before she sank, but there are plenty of pick axe heads, pulleys and locomotive parts in her five holds.