Mystery of Britain’s ‘ship graveyard’, the Manacles, home to the rotting shells of 1,000 ships whose demise remains unexplained

THE ‘ship graveyard of Britain’ is home to the rotting shells of a thousand ships.

The Manacles are a series of treacherous rocks in Falmouth Bay, Cornwallknown for its shipwrecks.

8

8

8

8

8

The fatal coast off the Lizard Peninsula has claimed countless lives over the years and countless ships have sunk there.

And the rugged coastline is so dangerous that it was once called the ‘graveyard of ships’.

One of the most famous wrecks here is the SS Mohegan, a luxury steamship bound for New York in October 1898 when it was utterly destroyed by the Manacles.

More than a century later, the reason why the Mohegan’s voyage was disastrously cut short is an enduring maritime mystery.

There was no reason why the ship was sailing so close to the coastline.

And she maintained her doomed course even as a shocked Coast Guard fired warning missiles.

The Mohegan was torn open by the rocks while the passengers were seated at the table and sank with the loss of 106 lives, including the captain.

The wreck is a sought-after location for divers drawn by both the gripping backstory and the visible remains of the ship.

In the aftermath of the disaster, it was investigated why the Mohegan had taken such a wrong course.

Many theories were put forward, but since the crew all perished, the mystery remains unanswered to this day.

One such theory attributed the tragedy to a magnetic influence caused by the rocks in the Manacles district.

This influence would affect the compass and this was a possible explanation for the cause of the Mohegan’s demise.

Most of the dead were buried in a mass grave at St. Keverne Church, which overlooks more or less where the Mohegan struck.

Now the remains of the Mohegan are stuck between huge rock pinnacles covered in… pink and white dead man’s fingers

It includes the shattered hull and menacing boilers, which are covered in coral.

The eerie wreck is now a haven for conger eels and other marine life.

The treacherous rocks have also claimed a number of lives and ships over the years.

HMS Primrose, a Cruizer-class brig sloop of 18 guns, sank on 22 January 1809, with only one of 126 on board surviving.

The John transports 263 emigrants to Canadasank in May 1855 in the Maenland.

190 people were washed off the decks and drowned; only 86 survived.

8

8

8