Image 2
Image 4

Lying in the shadow of its big-name neighbours off south Cornwall, this coal-carrying steamer, a U-boat victim from World War One, is too often neglected by divers, says John Liddiard. Illustration by Max Ellis

WITH THE JAMES EAGAN LAYNE AND SCYLLA NEARBY, larger, more intact, shallower and closer to Plymouth, it is hardly surprising that the 2788-ton Rosehill is often overlooked by divers.
I admit that, given a choice, nine times out of 10 I would opt for one of the Rosehill’s neighbours. But when I have visited the Rosehill in the past it has been a good dive, and the wreck is well worth the occasional look.
With the wreck almost levelled and surrounded by reef, the only parts that show well on an echo-sounder are the boilers and the stern, with the boilers giving the most obvious echo, so that is where our tour begins (1).
Both boilers have rolled a little to starboard. Behind them, the triple-expansion steam engine has also collapsed to starboard (2). Plates from the port side of the hull have fallen inwards, held up just enough to leave the crankshaft visible below. In fact, the general pattern of collapse along the wreck is to starboard. Hardly surprising, as the wreck lies with bow to the north and the port side exposed to the groundswell from the west.
The propeller-shaft is partially obscured beneath the fallen hull, visible in places by peering beneath the collapsed plates (3), then breaking where the stern has fallen over.
The hull-plates are home to a sparse forest of gorgonian fans, oriented across the ship to spread their branches to the gentle current that flows roughly parallel to the shore.
Continuing aft on the line of the propeller shaft, then slightly to port, the tail-section of the propeller-shaft (4) disappears inside an intact section of keel at the stern. At the back of this section, the four-bladed iron propeller remains on the shaft, intact and with one blade pointing straight up to the surface (5).
Behind the propeller, the Rosehill’s rudder (6) lies flat to the seabed at about 30m, depending on the state of the tide. The bottom of the rudder shaft remains attached to the keel, while further up the rudder shaft is pushed away from the wreck where the steering quadrant is wedged against the seabed.
At the top of the rudder-shaft, the steering quadrant is quite small, the steering being assisted by a steam-powered steering engine (7).
Between the rudder-post and the stern, the Rosehill’s 12-pounder gun and gun-mount lie on one side (8), with the breech of the gun in the sand and the barrel angled slightly up and towards the keel.
The deck from the stern is completely broken, with just pairs of bollards and curved sections of hull a reminder of the edges of the stern (9). In years past, cases of ammunition have been found in the area of the stern that would have been beneath the gun (10).
As the wreck has collapsed to starboard, our return forward is along the starboard (east) side of the wreckage. The Rosehill was a conventional four-hold freighter with two holds forward and two holds aft, masts and winch gear between holds. So it is little surprise that halfway back to the boilers, a section of mast rests just off the side of the wreck (11), held clear of the seabed by a cross-piece.
Following the line of the mast further out, just forward of the line are the broken remains of a winch (12). Scraps of mast continue further out, ending with another cross-piece (13).
Operating from Cardiff to deliver cargoes of Welsh coal, the Rosehill would have depended on shore facilities for loading and unloading, so winch gear for operating the derricks would have been minimal. Back on the wreck and continuing forwards, some of the coal cargo is spread across the seabed level with the number 3 hold (14).
Further forward again and level with the Rosehill’s engine, small hatch coamings (15) are the hatches from the ship’s bunkers. The space for storing coal for a marine boiler is always separate from the cargo. After all, while primarily used to carry coal, a ship could be loaded with other cargo.
Even when carrying coal, it may have been a different type to that best suited to marine boilers. Nevertheless, I doubt that would have been the case on the Rosehill’s final voyage. The coal was destined for Devonport and, presumably, the boilers of the Royal Navy. Forward of the boilers, there is considerably less wreckage. Along the line between the two boilers and just a few metres forward, another steering engine marks the wheelhouse end of the steering system (16).
A little further forward and off to starboard, the donkey boiler (17) has rolled out from its original location in the stoke hold. A domed cap has broken off and rests on the seabed behind it.
The largest part of the original bow structure is made up of some hull ribs shaped for the port side of the bow. These just rise from the seabed (18).
A little out from them, the bow deck (19) is a patch of wooden deck planking partly obscured by sand. If the wooden decking is obscured, the edges are marked by two pairs of bollards. Some wafting of hands and fins should clear a light covering of sand away. The other fittings for the bow have all broken loose. The port anchor is still in its hawse pipe (20), broken from the hull. The chain from this leads to a big pile just forward of the anchor (21), with the starboard anchor stretched out forward (22).
The anchor winch rests next on the sand, next to the pile of chain (23). It’s a convenient place to pop a delayed SMB and surface.

The Rosehill (originally the Minster) Positiion – 50 19 770′N / 04 18 51′W

History:

Two miles out from Portwrinkle lies one of the hardest wrecks to locate along this part of the coast. She is the armed merchantship Rosehill. Built in 1911 by S.P. Austin and Son of Sunderland, she was first launched as the Minster by her owners Stephen Clarke and Company. 314 feet long (95m) with a gross tonnage of 2733 tons; the Minster was fitted with a triple expansion engine made by the Sunderland firm of NorthEastern Marine Engineering. In 1914 she was sold to a Welsh Steamship Company called W.J. Tillet and was renamed the Rosehill. At the outbreak of the First World War she was requisitioned by the Admiralty as a collier and armed with a small gun, probably a four pounder.

On 23 September 1917 the Rosehill was enroute from Cardiff to Devonport, carrying a cargo of coal when at 6.05 pm the German submarine U 40 torpedoed her 5 miles SW by S from Fowey, Cornwall. The crew abandoned ship only to find she didn’t sink and returned to her. At 6.45pm with some difficulty they boarded her as the engine was still running. She was taken in tow to be beached at long sands but too much time had been lost and she foundered in 30m (100 feet) of water.

She sank at the edge of a reef, surrounded by large outcrops of rock. This fact conspired to fool many a person with an echo sounder, and previously the only effective way to find her was to use the marks, which will put you right on the boilers (or you can use GPS). Although, the marks could be most elusive.

The wreck today:

She is often bouyed and is a muddy dive. Often the visibility is not much more than ten feet (less than other areas), but still very interesting. There is hardly any current and she can be dived at any time . The best places to launch are the car park by the car ferry in Fowey (14 miles from wreck) or Plymouth which is 9 miles away.

Divers say there is plenty of ammunition on the site and one of its many attractions is that it has a gun on it.

Image 5

Looks like a small ammo box

The ship is lying almost upside down in parts and it takes some time to get your bearings, especially if visibility is not very good. Still there is plenty of brass on this wreck, but you will need to come well prepared for most of it is well bolted on. Initially there was no entrance into her engine room except for a small crack in the hull. Over the years however, this crack has turned into quite a gaping hole, and although not quite big enough to get into properly, you can certainly see enough to hope that the hole gets a lot wider. Around the boiler is a huge jumble of metal, parts of the hull and pieces of the deck all lumped onto one another. In amongst all this are some brass valves bolted to the plating, and some fairly large bearing blocks. At the bow is an anchor and chain and part of a mast complete with the pulleys that must have helped support the derricks that loaded and unloaded the ship.

Somewhere amongst all this is the gun. Unsure what type it is. Nice big barrel, elevating and training wheels, mounting with calibration ring, looks almost ready to fire.

Besides the brass and the gun, there are also an awful lot of fish as well. Pouting and Pollack you would expect, and they are here in huge numbers. Also Bass can be found. There are also congers on the wreck. A few years ago there were sensational stories in the press about a giant conger eel attacking divers thighs!

Image 7

Once you have dived the Rosehill a few times you begin to make some order out of the jumble, and you begin to notice that things are missing, and that is what makes this wreck really interesting. For instance, where is the bridge? Is it underneath the upturned part of the hull, or has it been torn off and is now lying some way away from the wreck?

Image 8
Ships boiler looking west
Image 9
Conger eel next to the boiler, this wreck always has them
Image 10
Part of a deck winch amidships
Image 11
A very broken amidships looking south
Image 12
The best feature of this wreck is the 12 pounder stern gun located on the seabed portside.(east)
Image 13
Not far from the gun is the rudder and prop.
Image 14
Diver on the 4 bladed prop, giving a idea of its size.
Image 15
heading north another part of a winch.
Image 16
The prop shaft looking towards the stern (south