Marsden, Blairhall (formerly Heros)

HER Number

12758

District

S Tyneside

Site Name

Marsden, Blairhall (formerly Heros)

Place

Marsden

Map Sheet

NZ45NW

Class

Maritime Craft

Site Type: Broad

Transport Vessel

Site Type: Specific

Cargo Vessel

General Period

POST MEDIEVAL

Specific Period

Victorian 1837 to 1901

Form of Evidence

Wreckage

Description

An iron 2549 ton British-registered steamship. 91.45m long, 12.25m beam and 6.36m draught. She was built as the Heros in 1899. At the time of her loss she was owned by the Clydesdale Navigation Co. Ltd and managed by Nisbet, George & Co. of Glasgow. Her single bronze propeller was powered by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine. The vessel was armed with a 610kg stern-mounted deck gun that fired 12lb shells. On 26 July 1918 she was 2.5 miles east of Souter lighthouse carrying ballast from Middlesbrough to the Tyne when she was torpedoed by German submarine UC-40. The following day the Blairhall foundered with the loss of one crewman. Grid reference conversion made 14.11.09 with http://www.nearby.org.uk/coord-ll-cgi with WGS84 Lat/Lon. N 54 57 879 W 001 16 538

Easting

443740

Northing

557290

Grid Reference

NZ443740557290

Sources

Ron Young, 2001, The Comprehensive Guide to Shipwrecks of the North East Coast, Volume Two (1918-2000), pages 116-117; National Monuments Record MONUMENT NUMBER: 908724; Hydrographic Office wreck index
Extracted 09-MAR-1993; Maritime and Coastguard Agency: Receiver of Wreck Amnesty (23-Jan to 24-Apr-2001); Ian T. Spokes Wreck Database