HMS Pelorus 1994
Marker: recorded wreck position (Modern).
Key facts
| Name | HMS Pelorus | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1994 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Modern | derived from year |
| Ship type | minesweeper, offshore dive site | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Scuttled | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | South Africa, United Kingdom | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | South African Navy, Royal Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | South Atlantic Ocean | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | South Africa | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 6 km from land |
| Position | -34.2217, 18.4744 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
HMS Pelorus (pennant number: J291) was an Algerine-class minesweeper built for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. Upon completion, the ship became the flotilla leader of the 7th Minesweeper Flotilla, clearing mines off the east coast of England. In June 1944, the flotilla was assigned to sweep one of the beaches during the Normandy landings until she struck a mine the following month. After her repairs were completed, Pelorus was reassigned to the English Channel and the 6th Minesweeping Flotilla. The flotilla was transferred to the Indian Ocean in 1945 and spent some time escorting convoys. They participated in Operation Collie, a bombardment of Japanese positions in the Nicobar Islands, in July and then swept the Strait of Malacca and the approaches to Singapore in August.
After the war, she was sold to the South African Navy and renamed HMSAS Pietermaritzburg. The ship was later converted into a midshipmans' training ship during the early 1960s. She served as a barracks ship from 1968 to 1991 when Pietermaritzburg was listed for disposal. The ship was scuttled as an artificial reef off the South African coast in 1994.
Location
- Recorded position: -34.2217, 18.4744 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: South Atlantic Ocean
- Nearest coast: South Africa
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article HMS Pelorus (J291) (revision 1375407575), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- SAS Good Hope 5 km
- SS Thomas T. Tucker 10 km
- HMS Thames 1947 · 14 km
- SS Lusitania 1911 · 19 km
- SS Maori 26 km
- SS Oakburn and Bos 400 1994 · 26 km
Browse more: Africa wrecks · wrecks off South Africa · South Atlantic Ocean · Modern