As well as having many shipwrecks underwater around Plymouth, there are a large number of ships abandoned on the foreshore, often known as 'hulks'. This research is a collaboration between The SHIPS Project and C. John Cotton from his record of these hulks in the 1980s and our many contributors are acknowledged on the individual pages and photographs.
A 250 page illustrated book about these hulks, 'Historic Ships on the Foreshore in and Around Plymouth Sound National Marine Park' by Peter Holt and C. John Cotton is now available on the Publications page.
Click on the map to zoom in to an area and see the hulks:
Click on a link to zoom in to an area:
Tamar | 14 hulks | River Tamar, River Tavy and Tamerton Lake areas, plus Calstock |
Lynher | 6 hulks | Lynher River area, Poldrissick, Treluggan |
Forder | 12 hulks | Forder and Antony Passage areas |
Hamoaze | 16 hulks | Lower Tamar, Hamoaze, Torpoint, Stonehouse, Millbay and Drakes Island areas |
Plym | 21 hulks | River Plym, Cattewater, Cattedown and Oreston areas |
Hooe Lake | 36 hulks | Hooe Lake, a ships graveyard |
Whitsand | 4 hulks | Whitsand Bay, Freathy, Tregantle areas |
Yealm | 4 hulks | Andurn Point, River Yealm, Wembury and Newton Ferrers areas |
Total | 113 hulks |
Name | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Acacia | Hooe Boatyard, East | Unknown | Fishing boat |
Alfred Rooker | Hooe Lake, East | 1876 | Ketch |
Alice | Hooe Lake, North | 1868 | Steam tug |
Amazon | Hooe Lake, West | 1866 | Ketch |
Anje | Pomphlett Lake | 1968 | French fishing vessel |
Anna II | Off Torpoint | 1950 | Ex-Belgian pilot boat |
Antelope | Laira | 1906 | Brixham trawler |
Arthur | Hooe Lake, East | Unknown | Timber lighter |
August Smith | Wembury | 1881 | Barque |
Baltic Surveyor | Oreston | 1943 | WWII German torpedo boat, converted |
Batten Bay 1 | Mount Batten | Unknown | Unknown |
Beatrice Maud | Treluggan | 1910 | Thames sailing barge |
Bertie | Hooe Lake, East | 1901 | Thames sailing barge |
Bertie | Hooe Lake, North | 1883 | Tamar sailing barge |
Bon Ami | Hooe Boatyard, East | 1957 | Scottish fishing vessel |
Boy Eric | Forder, under bridge | 1921 | Fishing vessel |
Budeaux 2 | St Budeaux Wharf | Unknown | Timber vessel, unknown |
Budeaux 3 | St Budeaux Wharf | Unknown | Motor fishing vessel, unknown |
Budeaux Barge | St Budeaux Wharf | WWII | Ammunition barge, WWII |
Bulla | Hooe Lake, West | 1873 | Jersey topsail schooner |
Calstock | Calstock | Unknown | Pirate ship, punts and barges |
Cattedown 1 | Cattedown | Unknown | Steel barge |
Chancellor | Treninnow Beach | 1901 | Steam trawler |
Charles Leake II | Hooe Lake, North | 1946 | Motor fishing vessel, 65ft Admiralty |
Cornubia | Hooe Lake, East | 1896 | Millbrook steam ferry |
Coronella | Hooe Lake, off Hooe Quay | Unknown | Ketch |
Cretabode | St John's Lake | 1918 | Concrete barge |
Cruden Bay | Carbeile Creek | 1899 | Wooden steam tug |
Daisy | Freathy | 1872 | Steam coaster |
Dignity | Hooe Boatyard, East | Unknown | French fishing vessel |
Dolphin | Hooe Lake, North | Unknown | Schooner |
Drakes Island Barge | Drakes Island, South | Unknown | Unknown |
Edith | River Tamar, unknown | 1904 | Thames sailing barge |
Edwin | Pomphlett Lake | 1880 | Tamar sailing barge |
Emma Christ | Tregantle Beach | Unknown | Ex-Admiralty MFV then diving tender |
Elizabeth Jane | Antony Passage | Unknown | Tamar sailing barge |
Excelsior | Sand Acre Bay | 1875 | Schooner |
Flete Lady | Hooe Boatyard, West | 1958 | Fishing vessel built in Plymouth |
Floralie | Hooe Boatyard, West | 1977 | French fishing vessel |
Fowey No. 2 | Carbeile Wharf | Unknown | Timber barge |
George Murray | Forder | Unknown | Sailing barge? |
Happy Venture | Hooe Lake, off Hooe Quay | 1953 | Salcombe crabber |
Harry Herbert | Sand Acre Bay | 1860 | Schooner |
Harbour Launches | Hooe Lake, East | 1947 | Two harbour launches |
High Speed Launch 2707 | Polbathic Lake | 1940s | RAF High Speed Launch |
Hooe Boatyard | Hooe Lake | - | Many hulks on the south side of Hooe Lake |
Hooe Lake 1 | Hooe Lake, East | Unknown | Fishing vessel |
Hooe Lake 2 | Hooe Lake, East | Unknown | Fibreglass and timber boat |
Hooe Lake 3 | Hooe Lake, East | Unknown | Large vessel, possible schooner |
Hooe Lake 4 | Hooe Lake, East | Unknown | Possibly ketch Alfred Rooker |
Hooe Lake 5 | Hooe Lake, South | Unknown | Unknown |
Hooe Lake 8 | Hooe Boatyard, East | Unknown | Yacht, unknown |
Hooe Lake 9 | Hooe Boatyard, East | Unknown | Fishing boat, unknown |
Hooe Lake 10 | Hooe Boatyard, East | Unknown | Steel barge |
Hooe Lake 11 | Hooe Boatyard, West | Unknown | Small steel tug |
Jade | Hooe Boatyard, East | Unknown | Motor Launch |
John Sims | Hooe Lake, North | 1873 | Schooner |
Karen Marie | St Budeaux Wharf | Unknown | Motor fishing vessel |
Laira 1 | Laira | Unknown | Small steel boat, date unknown |
Laira Bridge 1 & 2 | Laira Bridge | Unknown | Steel barge and Unknown |
Landing Craft | Forder | 1940 | WWII Landing craft damaged before D-Day |
La Petite Stephanie | Sutton Harbour | 1956 | Guernsey motor fishing vessel |
Leader | Hooe Lake | 1867 | Turnchapel pilot cutter |
Lively | Blagdon's Yard, Crabtree | 1892 | Passenger ferry |
Lord John Roberts | Forder | Unknown | Sailing barge? |
Lotus Bleu | Pomphlett | 1967 | French crabber / trawler |
Lynher | Poldrissick, Refloated | 1891 | Tamar sailing barge |
Maggie Annie | Treluggan | 1881 | Ketch |
Mainland | Pomphlett Lake | 1945 | Danish fishing boat |
Maline | Kingsmill Lake | 1912 | Danish fishing ketch |
Master Hand | Torpoint | 1920 | Trawler, built in Rye |
Merganser | Hole's Hole | 1887 | Yacht |
Millbay Pontoon | Millbay | 1852 | Pontoon built by Brunel for Millbay Docks |
Millbrook 1 | Millbrook Lake | Unknown | Unknown steel vessel |
Millom Castle | Poldrissick | 1870 | Schooner |
NS660 and barge | Sutton Harbour | Unknown | Unknown barges |
Ocean Maid | Laira | 1967 | Scottish motor fishing vessel |
Oreston 1 & 2 | Oreston, Bayly's Wharf | Unknown | Steel barges |
Other Hooe Lake Hulks | Hooe Lake | Unknown | Other vessels in Hooe Lake |
Other Plym Hulks | Cattewater, Laira | Unknown | Other vessels in the Plym and Laira |
Paris' Pinnace | Sand Acre Bay | Unknown | Pinnace from the WWII French battleship Paris |
Patrina | Sutton Harbour | 1900 | Admiralty steam pinnace |
Pearl | Hooe Lake, East | 1840 | Tamar sailing barge |
Plough | Millbrook Lake | 1934 | Motor fishing vessel |
Plym | Cattedown | Unknown | Dredger broken up at Cattedown |
Prince Rock 1 | Laira | Unknown | Unknown timber vessel |
Rapid | Hooe Lake | Unknown | Steam passenger ferry |
Reine des Flots | Carbeile Wharf | Unknown | Trawler used as the foundation for a wharf |
Reynolds Lighter | St Budeaux Wharf | Unknown | Steel sewage lighter |
Roger | Hooe Lake, East | 1947 | Houseboat, ex-Belgian trawler |
Roy Fra Masnedo | Carbeile Wharf | Unknown | French-built fishing boat |
Saltash | Tamerton Lake | 1864 | Ketch |
Saint Roch | Hooe Lake | Unknown | Motor fishing vessel |
Sand Acre Bay 1 | Sand Acre Bay | Unknown | Unknown, possibly a sailing barge |
Silver Seagull | Hooe Boatyard, West | 1964 | Belgian trawler |
Steam Pinnace | Antony Passage mill pond | Unknown | Royal Navy steam pinnace |
Stonehouse 1 | Stonehouse | Unknown | Unknown iron hulk off Stonehouse |
Stonehouse 2 | Stonehouse | Unknown | Unknown timber hulk off Stonehouse |
Swift | Turnchapel | 1877 | Passenger ferry | Tamerton 1 | Tamerton Lake | Unknown | Unknown vessel at the head of the lake |
Tamerton 2 | Tamerton Lake | Unknown | Unknown boat on the south shore |
Tamerton 3 | Tamerton Lake | Unknown | Unknown vessel on the north shore |
Tamerton 4 | Tamerton Lake | Unknown | Reported in Devon HER, not found |
Tamerton 5 | Tamerton Lake | Unknown | Unknown timber vessel, possibly a ferry |
Tap | Torpoint | 1888 | Timber hopper barge in the Ballast Pond |
Target Floats | Sand Acre Bay | Unknown | Steel towed target floats |
Tavy | Sutton Harbour | 1899 | Smack |
Triumph | Poldrissick | 1899 | Tamar barge built in Plymouth |
Vectis | Andurn Point | 1877 | Steamship wrecked on the beach |
Wendew | Hooe Lake, East | 1912 | Brixham trawler |
Wendy Ann II | Hooe Lake | 1939 | Tug rescued from Hooe Lake |
Whitsand 2 | Tregantle Beach | Unknown | Unknown timber vessel |
Wilcove 1 | Off Wilcove, River Tamar | Unknown | Unknown timber vessel |
Yealm 1 | River Yealm | Unknown | Unknown vessel in the River Yealm |
Yealm 2 | River Yealm | Unknown | Unknown modern trimaran in River Yealm |
YMS-378 | Stonehouse | 1943 | D-Day veteran minesweeper |
Some of the abandoned vessels are of national importance and should be investigated, recorded and protected. A list of the significant vessels in the waterway can be found here .
The hulks in the Tamar waterway have been photographed and noted by a number of people, but this work by The SHIPS Project is the first comprehensive study of all of the vessels. More information about the previous work on this subject can be found here .
Many of the hulks recorded 40 years ago by pioneers Martin Langley, Edwina Small and John Cotton are no longer visible, so their records are all the information we have about these ships:
- Many have been destroyed by erosion and biological activity prevalent on the foreshore where the ship structure is sometimes wet and sometimes dry, battered by waves and eroded by windblown sediments.
- Some of the vessels were simply broken up and their timbers taken away.
- Abandoned wooden vessels have always been a resource providing timber or machinery for building or repairing other ships, for incorporating into buildings on land or for firewood. The Brixham trawler Antelope was partly destroyed by local residents in search of free firewood as Langley complained in a letter to a newspaper, and the trawler Hooe Lake 1 appears to have been abandoned to be a source of firewood.
- Some of the hulks have been deliberately removed or flattened, such as the trawler Wendew, Tamar barge Pearl and ferry Cornubia in Hooe Lake that were flattened by an excavator under the direction of Plymouth City Council who were 'tidying up' Hooe Lake.
- Some of the hulks have disappeared under landfill. For example, whatever remained of the unidentified small steamer at Cattedown is now buried under the land reclamation of the Cockle Bank which is now Neptune Park, and in Hooe Lake the remains of the schooner Dolphin, an unidentified steamship and the Tamar barge Bertie are buried under landfill deposited as part of a housing development that borders the lake.
This is a diminishing resource as it is unlikely that any historically interesting vessels will ever be abandoned on the foreshore in the future. So what remains we can see today is the last remains we will ever see, and the last vestige of a very old maritime tradition of ship disposal, shipbreaking and recycling.
The list of contributors to this study of Plymouth shipwrecks, hulks and aircraft crash sites can be found here.
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