Maritime record SWD 138 - Wreck of the Mopsa

Vesitigial remains of 1916 wreck of English cargo vessel which struck a mine and began to settle 7 miles south of Lowestoft while en route from Goole to Boulogne with a general cargo, including coal. She was then taken in tow for beaching, but capsized and sank in Sole Bay approximately half a mile east of Easton Cliffs. Constructed of steel in 1902, the MOPSA was a steam-driven vessel and was on her regular Goole-Boulogne run at the time of loss. Her voyages to Boulogne had in the past also included at least one cargo of locomotives consigned for Continental Europe. The wreck was subsequently dispersed in two phases, over 1922-3 and 1955-6. She was a sister ship of SS AFRICA (904857), which had a similar history of transporting railway carriages, and met a similar fate in 1915 under the same master, striking a mine and being beached off Deal, to be dispersed as a navigational hazard.
Status: Site

Wreck Site and Archaeological Remains:

Charted as foul (DEAD), labelled MOPSA without qualification, with a consistent charting history since 1916. Seen to be located in Sole Bay approximately 0.5 nautical mile east of Easton Bavents/Easton Cliffs or 1.8 nautical miles NNE of Southwold Pier. (2)(3)

Charted in 52 20.411N 001 42.158 (WGS 84), 52 20.383N 001 42.266E (OSGB), formerly 52 20.383N 001 42.267E. (2)(3)

1916: Sank in 52 20.23N 001 42.16E. Broadside awash at low water spring tides with one davit head visible. (2)(3)

1919: Charted. (2)(3)

10-JUN-1922: Salvage & Towage Co. of London commenced dispersal operations on wreck, to continue until removed. (2)(3)

25-AUG-1922: Position amended to 52 20.24N 001 42.18E. (2)(3)

02-JUL-1923: Charted as wreck 30ft. (2)(3)

13-SEP-1955: Salvage completed. Light buoys removed. (2)(3)

18-JUN-1956: Swept clear to 2ft from bottom. (2)(3)

Wreck Event and Documentary Evidence:

Prior History:

MOPSA belonged to the Goole-based Bennett Line and ran the line's regular route between Goole and Boulogne. She was photographed in 1906 laden with four Midland engines as deck cargo for Continental Europe. (4)

Wreck Event:

Primary Sources:

16-JUL-1916: MOPSA, 885 tons, mined 7 miles S of Lowestoft, en route Goole for Boulogne, coal and general. Entry annotated (total loss). (5)

'GOOLE STEAMER SUNK.

'Our Goole representative writes::-

'Another Goole steamer, the MOPSA, belonging to the Bennett Steamship Company, has been sunk in the North Sea. Very few details were to hand up to this morning, but it appears the vessel, which only left her port of departure on Saturday morning, struck a mine. An explosion followed. An attempt was made to beach the MOPSA, but she sank. Fortunately the crew were picked up and landed. Captain Greenwood was the master, and Mr W Redman the chief engineer. This is the third steamer the company have had sunk within 12 months, the others being the AFRICA and the BURMA. From the latter seven lives were lost.

'The MOPSA was built for the company in 1902, at Glasgow. Her length was 225ft, breadth 33ft 1in, depth of hold 13ft 5in. Her net tonnage was 385, and her gross tonnage 885.' (6)

'The crews of two steamers which had been mined off the East Coast were brought into Lowestoft yesterday. One was the ALTO, of Newcastle, with a crew of 22, and the other the MOPSA, of Gole [sic], from Goole to Boulogne with general cargo and a crew of 18. No lives were lost, and no one was injured, but one or two suffered from shock.' (7)

Secondary sources:

Vessel foundered and lost after detonating a mine laid by the German submarine UC-6. The Master sighted two floating mines from the bridge at 5am, attempted to take avoiding action, but at 5.10am a mine exploded beneath the fore hold. The ship commenced to settle by the bow, and the crew ordered into the boats, from whence they were picked by a patrol boat and landed at Lowestoft. At about 6am Naval patrol vessels took the MOPSA in tow and put her ashore about 0.5 miles north of Southwold Pier, where she turned over and sank to become a total loss. (1)

16-JUL-1906: MOPSA mined and sunk 7 miles S of Lowestoft, Goole-Boulogne with coal and general. (4)

Built: 1902 (1)(2)(3)(4)(6)
Builder: Murdoch & Murray (1)(2)(3)(4)
Where Built: Port Glasgow (1)(2)(3)(4)(6)
Propulsion: Screw-driven, 3-cylinder triple-expansion engine
Engine HP: 187 (1)(2)(3)
Boilers: 2 (1)
Machinery: Muir & Houston Ltd., Glasgow; (1)
construction: 4 bulkheads; 1 deck; quarter-eck 106ft; bridge-deck 22ft; forecastle 30ft (1); open wheelhouse (4)
Master: H A Greenwood (1); Greenwood (6)
Crew: 18 (1)
Owner: Bennett Steamship Co. Ltd., Goole (1)(2)(3)(4)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
LR 1915-16 No.1522(M)
The National Archives, Kew, ADM 137/2960
British Vessels Lost at Sea 1914-18 and 1939-45, Section II, p20
A J Tennent, British Merchant Ships sunk by U-boats in the 1914-19 War, p212