181 ton former Grimsby fishing trawler, built 1902. Requisitioned as minesweeper in WWI and as dan (marker buoy) layer in WWII. 108ftx19ft. Armed. Sunk: 27 November, 1940, by hitting sea mine dropped by German aircraft near the Penlee Point entrance to Plymouth Sound. All saved.

Stands upright, 5m proud of sand, badly damaged on port side. Bows complete with winch. Entry possible to engine room. Much dived and has been stripped of brass and other fittings. The Elk was built in 1902, by Cork, Welton & Gommel of Hull, She is 108 feet & 181 tons. She started as a working trawler out of Grimsby & was requisitioned in world war one as a minesweeper.

She went back to her owners after the war & was sold to start a fresh life fishing out of Milford Haven but at the start of world war two she became HMS Elk and once again became a minesweeper. She ended her service life in November 1940 & now lies in 34 meters, two miles south of Plymouth breakwater. There is a variety of fish life with the inevitable conger who has made its home in the chain locker.

HMS Elk
Small, 40m long wreck dive in average depth 30m max depth 36m on the bow. Loads of life, but difficult to find so use DGPS marks to find her, please contact us for the info as we don’t bouy her.

Plymouth is surrounded by wrecks of trawler come minesweepers requisitioned by The British Navy, and the ELK is a superb example. We don’t dive this site so often, but will get some pictures and more info up soon.

Location: 50:18:24N; 04:10:12W
Length: 36m
Max Depth: 33m
Depth to deck: 30m
Viz: Worst we’ve seen 0m, best 12m
Orientation: Damaged but upright.

Buoy Lines

None, use a shot for ascent and descent along with a Delayed SMB if you can’t find your way back.

Areas of interest

All around the remains of the hull you can see good shoals of fish.

Wreck Penetrations
Yes, but not very long at all.

Snagging Hazards
As with all wrecks there are things to cut hands and get gear caught on. Gloves are advised and caution should be used.
No Take Zone
All brass and goodies there was to take were pillaged a long time ago.
Life you could see
Plenty of Bib everywhere, congers still lurk in the holes.

History

The Elk is a small trawler of 108 ft length that was mined in November 1940 just outside Plymouth Sound. For most of her life she was a fishing vessel. She was built at Hull in 1902 and until the 1st World War fished from Grimsby. In 1915 she was requisitioned as a minelayer and saw service off the Dardanelles.

During the interwar period she worked off West Wales from Milford Haven, but in 1939 she became a danlayer.

The Elk was discovered in 1981, She lies upright on the Elk Reef at position 50:18:24N; 04:10:12W at a depth of 32m on a sandy bottom. Being small, she is easily dived and her cabin is a notably intact feature.

Unfortunately, she has suffered much over the last few years and is now a sad reflection of her original pristine self. Now in a poor condition however you can easily dive the entire length of the wreck and get an appreciation of what she was like. Her brass has largely gone as has much else. However, the diver can easily swim around the entire wreck and appreciate what a whole wreck is like. The Elk is a very popular dive and maybe diver predations are the cause of her deterioration.

The surrounding reef is excellent with a variety of marine life to see, Much fish life, a large conger and other things to see including artillery shells and other naval debris.