SS Castilian

History
Name:	SS Castilian
Operator:	Ellerman Lines
Completed:	1919[1]
Fate:	sunk on 12 February 1943
Status:	Dangerous wreck
General characteristics
Tonnage:	3,067 tons[2]
Length:	331[2]
Beam:	46.8[2]
Capacity:	Live ammunition[3]

SS Castilian was carrying a cargo of munitions^[3] to Lisbon when she struck East Platters Rocks, near The Skerries, Anglesey, Wales and on 12 February 1943 sank.

In 1987 a Royal Navy clearance vessel spent several months removing unexploded ordnance from Fydlyn Bay nearby believed to have come from the wreck.^[3] In 1997 the location of the wreck on East Platters Rocks was designated under section 2 of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 with a 500 m exclusion zone regarding scuba diving activities because of its potentially dangerous cargo.^[4]

Other boats with the same name

There were two other Ellerman Lines ships called SS Castilian. The first, ex-Umbilo, was purchased in 1909 from Bullard, King & Co renamed Castilian, 1917 torpedoed and sunk by U-61 off Ireland.^[1] The third built 1955, 1963 renamed City of Peterborough, 1964 reverted to Castilian (1966-7 chartered to Cunard, temporarily renamed Arabia), 1971 sold to Maldives renamed Maldive Freedom.^[1] An even earlier Castilian was wrecked on Porthmadog Bar in 1868.^[5]

References

1. "The Ships List - Ellerman and Papayanni".
2. "WWI Standard ships".
3. Holden, Chris (2008). Underwater Guide to North Wales Vol. 2. Calgo Publications. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-9545066-1-2.
4. Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 1976 The Protection of Wrecks (SS Castilian) Order 1997 (Coming into force 13 August 1997)
5. "Vessel Losses and Casualties in Tremadoc Bay and St Patrick's Causeway".

Coordinates: 53°25.0107′N 4°35.9176′W / 53.4168450°N 4.5986267°W