Torpedoed First World War ship last seen 100 years ago found off Scots coast

A FIRST World War ship has been discovered off the coast of Scotland – more than 100 years after it was torpedoed by Germans.

The vessel had not been seen for over a century but the mystery of its disappearance looks set to be solved.

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The incredible find was made during attempts to create a new floating windfarm in the North Sea.

Underwater scans took place as part of the ongoing MarramWind development.

And according to The Times, Sonar technology did a sweep of the ocean floor and have positively identified the vessel.

With works still ongoing, measures have been put in place to protect the ship, until the survey has concluded.

The SS Tobol was originally known as the SS Cheltenham, a British ship built in Sunderland in the early 1900s.

But the vessel was captured by the Russians in 1904.

After becoming a part of the Russian Navy, it was used as a transport vehicle, moving military cargo between the UK and the Russian ports of Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk.

On September 11, 1917, it was torpedoed whilst making its return to Russia, having just departed the port of Blyth, Northumberland.

Colin Anderson, Development Manager for the MarramWind project, said: “This really is an extraordinary find.

“Our seabed surveys — which give us vital information about seabed conditions — covered a distance of around 6,000 miles.

“We always expect to come across wrecks when carrying out works like this, but these tend to be smaller vessels and known to the authorities.

“While the Tobol was known to have been torpedoed in the war, its location was unclear, so to discover it after more than a century and uncover its history is something special.”

The UK Hydrographic Office and Historic Environment Scotland have both been notified of the find.

It is believed that the discovery of the vessel will allow experts to uncover the secrets of the events that led to it’s disappearance.

Discussions are already underway with the relevant authorities to put protection measures in place for a long-term investigation.

An appeal was made to the Foreign Office to salvage the ship for examination, but that appeal was denied.

Toby Cane, archaelogy lead for Canadian consulting firm, WSP, said: “It’s incredible that more than a century on, we finally have a sense of where the SS Tobol likely went down.”