HMS Port Napier
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | HMS Port Napier | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | minelayer | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Fire or explosion | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | Royal Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | Inner Seas | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Scotland | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 2 km from land |
| Position | 57.2659, -5.6875 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
HMS Port Napier was a British motor ship that was designed and laid down as a civilian cargo ship but completed in 1940 as an auxiliary minelayer for the Royal Navy. An engine room fire caused an explosion that destroyed her in November 1940. Her remains in Loch Alsh in Scotland are now a recreational wreck diving site.
She was the third of four ships called Port Napier to be owned by Port Line. She was named after Napier Port on the North Island of New Zealand.
Diving & visiting
The remains of Port Napier's hull are on the south side of Loch Alsh at position 57°15′57.24″N 5°41′15.03″W. Parts of her superstructure are still on the beach nearby, but the main part of her wreck is in the water, where it attracts recreational divers. Penetration diving is facilitated by large parts of her port side being missing.
Her bow and the timber of her decking are fairly intact. Her four-inch guns were mounted aft of her forecastle, and at least one of them is still visible to divers. Trolleys for transporting the mines are scattered on the seabed. plumose anemones live on parts of the deck, including the timber decking and steel cables. Scallops also inhabit the wreck.
Location
- Recorded position: 57.2659, -5.6875 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Inner Seas
- Nearest coast: Scotland
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 Port Napier (revision 1376024901), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “The wreck today”; 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
- U-722 1945 · 56 km
- HMS Nelson 61 km
- Mingary 68 km
- Crusader 74 km
- HMS Sir Galahad 1957 · 78 km
- HMS Dartmouth 85 km
Browse more: UK & Ireland wrecks · wrecks off Scotland · Inner Seas