West Coast Diving and Boat launch Info
SS WALLACHIA
TOWARD POINT, CLYDE
30-36m
1mile E of Toward Point, Lat / Long : N55 ° 51 ' 42 '' - W4 ° 57' 11''
September 1895 the SS Wallachia Glasgow bound for the West Indies with a cargo which included coal, gin, whisky, and building materials.
Sailing down the Clyde in a thick Fog she was in a collision with the Norwegian steamship the Flos. with a huge gash in the Bows she sank in about 25 minutes into 36 metres of water, as her masts were only a metre below the surface Hard Hat Divers cut them down.
She then lay forgotten until in 1980 she was discovered by Divers and was found intact, since then she is one of the most popular Dives in Scotland with all divers hoping to get a Beer bottle from her holds.
The Dive
She is still remarkably intact and apart from the wooden Bridge and Wheelhouse collapsing is still a ship, the wooden deck is still solid and the holds full of Coal and Beer Bottles
She is a great dive and although Deep and Dark the Visibility can be good - it can also be terrible. At the Bow the great gash can be seen caused by the collision,and at the stern the prop and rudder are still in place.
At 30 metres to the deck and 36 metres to the seabed this is a fairly deep Dive, and if the visibility is bad can be a bit intimidating.
Access is possible to the Engine Room via the 'Greenhouse' skylight, or down the Funnel Hole, but stirs up very easily into a silt out,The same goes for the notorious Whisky Hold, which has a very small hatch compared to the other holds. Be careful People have died on this wreck .
The Beer Bottle Holds are quite safe as they are only about 2 metres deep, and quite open, full of fine silt, when people start digging the visibility is ruined. Beer Bottle holds are at the Foward end of the ship, navigation is fairly easy as at the stern the deck is open, and at the bow the sides are still in place.
You can find some interesting stuff on the seabed, but be aware at 35m+ this is deep and dark!, so be careful in of monitoring your Dive Time and Decompression.
When first dived the wreck was intact with the Deck Cargo still lashed in place, Large Stannous Chloride Earthenware Jars were lifted by divers, still with contents intact, the bases of some can still be seen on the deck - a year ago I saw a complete Jar recovered, 25 years after she was first Dived.
Still intact after 111 years on the bottom, she is not deteriorating much, apart from the Wooden Bridge/Wheelhouse structures, a great Dive if conditions allow.
TREASURE!, They were full of Beer when I got them...phew!
But can you get yourself a nice 112 year old McEwans Beer Bottle like these ?