The 100th anniversary of the loss of the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Raleigh on August 8, 1922 was held at the Point Amour Lighthouse Historical Site. In L’Anse Amour and Forteau, there were presentations about the shipwreck and the care given to survivors by Labradorians. There were songs and a display of artefacts from the shipwreck owned by local families.
The wreck was intentionally destroyed by the Royal Navy in 1926, and salvagers then blew it up to recover the guns, brass propellers, anchors, and brass and copper hardware. The wreck is now beaten flat on the bottom and a strewn-across debris field. This is a massive shipwreck site stretching more than 150 metres. (492 feet) To dive on this wreck,(Neil Burgess and Ysabelle Hubert) we needed an archaeological research permit from the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Archaeology Office. Nothing was disturbed or recovered from the wreck. We remember the eleven Royal Navy sailors who died on August 8, 1922, when this ship went down. The Point Amour Lighthouse Historical Site, which interprets this shipwreck site for the public, deserves special mention.
Neil Burgess
Read the Scuba News Canada article on the HMS Raleigh
Thanks to Neil Burgess and Ysabelle Hubert for their photo contributions.
Neil is President of the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland and Labrador
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