27°42′12″N34°07′18″E / 27.70333°N 34.12167°E /27.70333; 34.12167
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Builder | C. Mitchell and C. Iron Ship Builders |
| Launched | 14 December 1872 |
| Homeport | Newcastle upon Tyne,England |
| Fate | Sank 22 April 1876 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 1,600 GRT |
| Length | 81.6 m (267 ft 9 in) |
| Beam | 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power | Two-cylindersteam engine |
| Propulsion | Mixed steam andsail |
| Speed | 8 knots |
SSDunraven was built inNewcastle upon Tyne at the C. Mitchell and C. Iron Ship Builders and was launched on 14 December 1872.[1] The ship was owned by a Mr W. Milburn. Powered by bothsail andsteam, she was planned for the route from Britain to Bombay.
Three years later, in January 1876, she set sail fromLiverpool loaded with steel and timber bound forBombay. There the cargo was sold and she was reloaded with spices, cotton and muslin for the return journey. It was generally an uneventful journey and she reached theRed Sea approaches to theSuez Canal on 25 April. Thinking they were further up theGulf of Suez than they actually were, Captain Care and the 25-man crew sailed the ship straight into a reef. The ship stuck fast south of Beacon Rock at the southern end of the furthest reaches of what is now theRas Muhammad National Park on the outside of Sha'ab Mahmoud. The crew worked frantically to dislodge her, and 14 hours after striking the rock she slid off. This motion upset her balance and she capsized.
She sank quickly in 25 metres (82 ft) of water, leaving the crew to be rescued from the life boats by local fishermen. After the incident the BritishBoard of Trade held an enquiry and found Captain Care to have been at fault. The board declared him negligent and revoked his captain's license, the Master's Certificate, for a year.
TheDunraven wreck was known to local fishermen for generations, as the shallow depth would cause their nets to snag, but it was only rediscovered for the world at large in 1977, either by a German oil company employee or by several localscuba divers based atSharm el Sheikh,Egypt, including Howard Rosenstein, owner and manager of the Red Sea Divers center in 1977. The ship wasdived on soon afterwards, and many wide theories appeared — for example, that it was aWorld War I ship that operated on behalf ofLawrence of Arabia. Then a piece ofporcelain was found with the name SSDunraven. Legends still surround the wreck; there are stories of the wreck being caused by an argument between the ship′s drunk captain and his promiscuous wife.[citation needed]
Since its rediscovery the wreck has become a popular dive site because of its shallow depth. The wreck has largely broken up; it lies upside down on the reef, but there are three large holes in thehull which allow divers to penetrate the wreck and examine the two largeboilers and a host of fallen metalwork. In part owing to the shallow depth, an abundance of reef fish can be found:glassfish,groupers,jackfish,scorpionfish, andcrocodilefish can all be seen around the ruptures in the hull.[citation needed]
