Alaunia SS

Location: 50°41'03''N; 00°27'17''W, 7.5 miles from Eastbourne

Description: Steamship, Cunard liner

Built: 1913

Length/Beam: 173m by 20m (568 feet) 520ftx64ft

Max | Min Depth: 36Mts (seabed)| (Bows) 24Mtrs

Weight (tons): 13405 

Reason sinking: Hitting a german mine laid by UC-16

Date sunk: 19/10/1916 

Tonnage: 13,405

Seabed: gravel, sand and shingle

Visibility: 10 metres (30 feet)

Rating: ****

1324hp quadruple-expansion engines. 8.000 tons general, New York to London. 180 passengers landed at Falmouth. Of 166 crew, two killed.

The former luxury liner SS Alaunia is the biggest wreck on the East Sussex coast. In her day she must have been an impressive sight topside. Today, the ship has something to offer all types of diver, be they fans of wrecks, wildlife or photography. Built in 1913 for Cunard, Alaunia was one of three sister ships designed to compete against the White Star Line ships for the lucrative transatlantic passenger trade.

The Alaunia remains popular due to its impressive size, though the ship is fairly well broken up from stern to amidships and it is not easy to decide what is what. However, 30m of the forward section is more or less intact. The Alaunia still has a row of portholes that can be followed complete with glass (albeit usually cracked) for brass-obsessed divers.

For wildlife aficionados, there are congers, cuckoo wrasse and dense shoals of bib as well as massive spider crabs and lobsters. Photographers would do well to aim for the bow section to get a shot of the massive anchor, which still hangs by its chain.

Telegraph raised from The Alaunia

Bell of The Alaunia

Because of the Alaunia's colossal size and being limited to diving on slack at least three dives need to be made on it in order to explore it fully. To achieve this would be no mean feat – as many divers tell of being 'blown out' by the weather on multiple occasions when attempting to dive the Alaunia.

Just 3 years out of her builders’ hands, in October 1916, she was on her way from New York to London, laden with 8,000 tons of general cargo. At about 4am disaster struck when she hit a German mine laid by UC-16 of the Flanders Flotilla, killing two of the 166 passengers on board. First on the scene, in response to The Alaunia’s distress calls where boats of the Dover patrol, followed shortly after by several destroyers, who proceeded to take off the crew and passengers. The Alaunia did not go quickly, she took over five hours to sink and at 9.20am she rolled over and went down by the stern, taking two of her crew with her who had died when the mine exploded.

Today she lies on a 36 metres sand-shingle seabed, at an angle of 45 degrees on her port side and the bow points to the east. Her superstructure has been swept, although she is still remarkably intact and her interior can be fully explored by divers with the prerequisite training and ability. The superstructure now lies in a heap of twisted metal at the foot of her steeply sloping decks. Wheel house lies 10m to port. The 1st class accommodation is off the port side.

The bridge area towards the bow is more intact and the The 20-foot anchor hanging from the end of the chain draped over the bow is another very impressive sight. The bow is the highest part of the wreck, sitting 12 metres proud. From here the first 100-foot is in almost perfect condition but she is broken up the further towards the stern that you go. Great care should be taken when exploring in and around the broken up sections, as when visibility is low it is quite disorientating and you could find yourself inadvertently entering the wreck. The wheelhouse, more or less intact, lies 10 metres off from the main wreckage on the port side. When conditions are right this is a fantastic dive, there is still a great deal of her original fittings to be seen, along with rows upon rows of intact portholes. When the Alaunia was in the builder’s yard it was said that she looked as if she was perforated due to her excessive amount of portholes.

There is an abundance of life on the Alaunia: shoals of bib, solitary wrasse and the occasional bass, lobsters and crabs in every nook and cranny, many spider crabs and dead mans fingers. The wreck is infested with congers. Visibility can reach up to 18 metres on a good day.