History:

Built: 1903
Description: Danish steamship
Propulsion: Two boilers and a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine amidships.
Tonage: 1491 ton
Reason sinking: ran aground
Date sunk: 00/00/1915
Position: 55°38′383N 01°36′267W / GPS: N 055 38 410 W 001 36 195
Length / beam: 250ft x 37ft
Draught: 18ft
Max | Min Depth: 32 | 25

PROS: Ideal for computer dive profiles, with a nice wall above the wreck and seals in the shallows.
CONS: Strong currents and slack water time is short.

This Danish steamship is one of the treasures of the North-east, with seal sightings a bonus. The Chris Christensen was typical of many merchant ships through the first half of the last century, with its two boilers and triple-expansion steam engine beneath an amidships superstructure and wheelhouse, two holds forward and two holds aft.

It ran aground at the southern end of the Longstone in 1915. After that it must have pulled at least partly free of the rocks before sinking, because the bows point away from the reef and the debris from the stern is higher on the slope towards the reef.

When I asked skipper Ian Douglas to help with some details on how to find this wreck, he commented that he had never even looked for GPS numbers. He just lined up the transit and judged the approximate distance offshore to drop the shot. Trouble is, the mast that used to form part of the transit is no longer there, so only those who really knew it could still use it. I can’t fault his method, because each time I have dived the Chris Christensen the shot has been reliably close to the starboard boiler (1), the depth here being about 32m.

The starboard boiler has rolled 90 degrees towards the centre of the wreck, with the two fire holes at the front of the boiler now one above the other. Forward of the boiler, many of the “rocks” on the seabed are actually coal (2). Continuing forward along the starboard side, the general line of the wreckage twists about 20 degrees to port (3), which indicates that the hull of the Chris Christensen broke just forward of the wheelhouse. All that remains now is debris on the seabed. It’s easy to follow the line of the wreck further forward to the lower part of the bow, standing upright from the seabed (4). The upper parts of the bow and fo’c’sle can be found spread to starboard and forward from this.

Just to starboard, a cargo winch rests upright on its mounting plate (5). Immediately in front of this, the anchor winch is upside-down and hidden partly beneath its mounting plate (6). These two winches would have been separated by the length of the forward hold. I suspect that the damage to the bows and movement of the cargo winch is a result of commercial salvage work when the wreck was in a more intact state. A little further forward, one of the anchor hawse pipes (7) rests almost against the upside-down remains of the upper part of the bow (8). This is the deepest point on the wreck, at about 33m.

Exposed to the current, the wreckage is covered with white and yellow dead men’s fingers, with an army of sea urchins munching their way around. A large anchor is tight in against the starboard side of the bow or, strictly speaking, the port side of the bow, as this section is upside-down. Just behind this section of bow rests a tightly wound drum of cable (9), followed by a much smaller anchor (10).

This begs the obvious question, which anchor belonged to the Chris Christensen? The large anchor is certainly of the right type and plenty large enough for a ship of this size, but the smaller one is much too small and looks more like the type that would have been found on a trawler. Perhaps it was carried by the Chris Christensen, or perhaps it was lost at a later date.

Following the port side of the wreck forwards and the starboard side back, just inside from the edge of the wreckage, will bring you across an area of black-and-white-tiled floor (11). It always amazes me that features like this have survived where nothing remains of the rest of the superstructure. The port boiler (12) rests upright and slightly forward of the starboard boiler. A hole towards the top provides a view in among the boiler tubes. Conger eels seem to enjoy hiding in this kind of hole, so have a good look and you might be lucky.

Crossing back towards the line of the keel, behind the starboard boiler the three-cylinder steam engine (13) has collapsed to starboard. Other than that it is remarkably intact and it’s easy to pick out details of the inner workings of the engine. Just aft of the engine and a little to port, the spare propeller is wedged up above the seabed (14). Back at the engine, the propshaft provides a line towards the stern (15), with another cargo winch just to starboard (16). The last piece of wreckage before ascending the slope is the remains of the emergency steering wheel (17). It is now well decayed, but in a more intact state it featured in one of my favourite underwater photographs, one of those pictures I look at time and again and think: “I wish I’d taken that”. It can be seen on the cover of Dive North-east, with a diver dressed in a seaman’s jacket and not much else holding the wheel and braving the weather. Heading up the slope, the propeller and rudder can be found at about 27m, with the propeller wedged upright among small rocks and gravel (18).

At 20m the slope ends with a vertical wall most of the way to the surface (19), an ideal location to fizz off in the shallows and make the most of any remaining gas while admiring the soft corals. As with any dive you might do in the Farne Islands, it’s well worth keeping a look-out for seals.

Valves visible on the engine

the auxiliary steering wheel at the stern

the spare propeller

using up air on the shallow reef above the wreck

WHAT MADE THE LONGSTONE FAMOUS

Every wreck-diver knows the Longstone, writes Kendall McDonald. The lighthouse there in the Farne Islands is forever linked with the names of Grace Darling and her father William, and their rescue of the Forfarshire survivors.

But many other wreck-divers will know the Longstone reef for another shipwreck – that of the Chris Christensen, which ran aground on its south-eastern tip on 16 February, 1915, and is now known as one of the best dives in the area. She sank in WW1 though not through enemy action. When wrecked, she was travelling in ballast with her four holds empty from her home port of Aarhus, Denmark, bound for Newcastle-upon-Tyne to pick up a general cargo. All her crew of 19 got off safely.

The Chris Christensen struck the tip of the southern end of the Longstone reef, and was riding high when she did so. The stranding had torn a massive hole in the bottom plates and she was so badly holed that within days she had slipped back and sank in deep water (25-32m). She is totally collapsed and well broken up lying up against a small reef. Up until a few years ago her huge ships wheel stood vertically and proud of the wreck but was unfortunately left lying flat on the seabed when some divers attempted to move it! The wreck has a variety of marine life around it with the usual contingent of Grey seals. The current is very strong and at certain states of the tide, there is a pronounced downward flow, which can be very alarming. Visibility can exceed 15m during the summer months.

It used to be an easy site to locate until the lighthouse commissioners decided to remove the radio mast which provided the only decent transit for her location. Now, although every one knows roughly where she is, we always have trouble pin-pointing her – mainly because being so flattened little shows on the echo sounder – unless you manage to get above the boilers which stand about 2.5m above the seabed. Looking north along the Longstone you will see the lighthouse at the far end. Line up the small chimney between the window and the edge of the building. Come in along the transit and you should get an echo from the boilers in 32m, just before the seabed begins to slope up towards the Longstone. The wreck is 30 to 40 metres from the rocks.

She lies at the bottom of the reef – about 10m from it – in about 31-34m but if you’re not careful, it’s very easy to find yourself at 38m and in the grip of a strong current. As well as the usual boilers (two), plates, propshaft (and prop’ in the shallows), bollards and enormous winches she has – or had, it’s now broken – an impressive steering wheel (as pictured on the front of the “Dive North east” guide). This lies close to the more southerly boiler near one of the huge winches. There used to be what seemed like a tiled seabed! – probably a section of saloon flooring but I’ve not re-located it since first seeing it many years ago, it’s probably covered with shale now. The real seabed is shale over rock and is often covered with Dead Men’s Fingers and anemones – making it a very colourful dive. Her rudder and prop’ lie up the slope at around 20 metres, close to the bottom of the vertical part of the reef.

One dive plan is to start the dive heading away from the reef towards the bows (keeping a watchful eye on the currents) before navigating the wreck’s 76m length towards the stern. From here the ascent can be made up the reef, which appears as a gently sloping mass of dead men’s fingers extending in all directions. Once you get to around 10m, keep your eyes peeled for seals, which may keep you company during safety or deco stops.

As with all the wrecks around Longstone, the Chris Christensen is well broken up due to the effect of fierce weather and tides. However, the strong currents carry a lot of nutrients which support countless dead men’s fingers and tend to encourage good sized shoals of fish, which don’t go unnoticed by the local grey seal population.

It’s important to note that slack water can be relatively short and currents significantly stronger than predicted; at some tidal states, down currents may be encountered towards the bows, which can drag divers away from the wreck and far offshore. The depth and currents around the Christensen are enough to provide a challenge, while the sea bed composition means the visibility can be up to 15m. With the right conditions it can be an excellent UK dive, though not one I would recommend for the inexperienced diver. Delayed SMBs are essential and flags, whistles or even flares should also be used.