Minimum number of divers: 8 Max Depth - 40m
Tonnage - 1597
Length - 245
Date sunk - 08 Aug 1940
Type of vessel - Steam Ship
How sunk – Air raid by Luftwaffe
Former names – None
Wreck height - 6m The Coquetdale was a British steel screw steamship built by J Priestman & Company in Sunderland in 1923. It was designed for the coal and timber trade, measured 245ft by 37ft by 18ft 3in and had tonnage of 1597 gross. It was powered by a triple expansion three cylinder engine with two single ended boilers, generating 186 nominal hp. When war was declared the ship was armed with 4 Lewis machine guns. Coquetdale sailed from Falmouth with a cargo of coal on 31st July 1940, as part of Convoy CE8, bound for Southend-on-Sea. In fact she broke away from that convoy and berthed at Portsmouth to unload, intending to return to Falmouth with Convoy CW9 (codenamed Peewit) as it sailed west a few days later. At 4.30am on 8 August, in company with five other merchant vessels (led by the Balhama), Coquetdale left St Helens Roads to the east of the Isle of Wight to rendezvous with Convoy CW9. From there Coquetdale was due to sail to the Clyde.
Others within CW9 included The Ajax, Borealis and Empire Crusader were all sank on the 8th August 1940 by German aircraft in a tale in which many lives were lost.
The wreck has collapsed over to port. Her hull plating amidships has blown outwards on her starboard side.
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