Although the Ashbury cannot strictly be labelled as a "Caithness wreck" she has been included here due to the fact that the bodies of some of those who perished were buried in Thurso cemetery and she is also fairly regularly dived by members of Caithness Diving Club.
On the 8th of January 1945, the British tramp steamer SS Ashbury (ex Nitedal), foundered and sank at the mouth of Talmine Bay, with the loss of the crew of 42 men. It was the worst loss of a merchant ship during World War Two, in an incident not caused by enemy action.
The Ashbury a three-island cargo ship of 3901 tons built at West Hartlepool in 1924 had returned from the Mediteranian in late 1944,with a load of iron ore. The cargo was discharged at Workington in Cumbria; the Ashbury was then told to go to the Tyne for repairs on a faulty engine condenser.
Captain David Morris set sail from Workington in ballast on the 31st of December 1944 for Lochewe, where the weather deteriorated badly and the ship lost an anchor. The Ashbury then sailed from Lochewe as part of a convoy on the 6th of January 1945, straight into a force nine gale.
The Ashbury soon fell behind the convoy, becoming unmanageable to the crew in the heavy seas. A tug was sent to her assistance as the Ashbury drifted alongside the Norwegian ship Bestik, off Strathy Point. The Canadian frigate Ste Theresa tried in vain between 2am and 4am to pass a line to the Ashbury, but had to move away as there was a danger of running aground on some rocks.
A retired merchant seaman, on coastguard duty in Melness reported a light in the Kyle of Tongue around 3:30am; this light is believed to have been from a liferaft. News soon spread of a possible shipwreck and local people began to scour the beaches for survivors. No survivors were found, as people discovered that a ship had run aground on Dubh-Sgeir Mhor (The Black Rocks) of Talmine, at the mouth of the Kyle of Tongue.
Twenty-seven bodies were washed ashore and taken to the mortuary in Thurso; where fourteen were buried in war graves in Thurso cemetery. The bell of St.Peter's church was tolled during the funeral, which was preceded by a touching and impressive service attended by more than 300 people. Eleven bodies were claimed by the next of kin, the remaining fifteen had no grave, but the sea. Two crew members from the Ashbury are buried in war graves in Tongue cemetery, one is the ships third engineer J T Eddicott, who had replaced the regular engineer at Lochewe when he was taken to hospital with appendicitis. The other grave in Tongue cemetery is that of an unknown sailor whose body was found on Island Rhoan several weeks later.
A formal investigation into the sinking of the Ashbury concluded that the loss of the ship was due to it hitting the Talmine rocks under stress in heavy weather. The ship was unable to maintain safe course in her light condition with only one anchor and short cable; the report also stressed that had it not been for the war conditions the Ashbury would not have been deemed fit to sail from Lochewe.
Today the remains of the Ashbury lie broken up and scattered around the rocks of the Dubh-Sgeir Mhor and make for an excellent dive in a most beautiful top side location. In 2002 the wreck of the Ashbury was featured as part of Diver magazines Wreck Tour series and a link to the article can be found by clicking here. The wreck can be found at GPS co-ordinates 58 32.822N, 4 24.659W (degrees, minutes and decimals) and lie in a maximum depth of about 20m. Still to be seen are her boilers, engine, masts and anchor amongst a jumble of her plates and other general wreckage. It is believed the ships bell (engraved Nitedal) and her deck gun were salvaged by local divers a long time ago and there current location is not known.
On the 8th of January 1945, the British tramp steamer SS Ashbury (ex Nitedal), foundered and sank at the mouth of Talmine Bay, with the loss of the crew of 42 men. It was the worst loss of a merchant ship during World War Two, in an incident not caused by enemy action.
The Ashbury a three-island cargo ship of 3901 tons built at West Hartlepool in 1924 had returned from the Mediteranian in late 1944,with a load of iron ore. The cargo was discharged at Workington in Cumbria; the Ashbury was then told to go to the Tyne for repairs on a faulty engine condenser.
Captain David Morris set sail from Workington in ballast on the 31st of December 1944 for Lochewe, where the weather deteriorated badly and the ship lost an anchor. The Ashbury then sailed from Lochewe as part of a convoy on the 6th of January 1945, straight into a force nine gale.
The Ashbury soon fell behind the convoy, becoming unmanageable to the crew in the heavy seas. A tug was sent to her assistance as the Ashbury drifted alongside the Norwegian ship Bestik, off Strathy Point. The Canadian frigate Ste Theresa tried in vain between 2am and 4am to pass a line to the Ashbury, but had to move away as there was a danger of running aground on some rocks.
A retired merchant seaman, on coastguard duty in Melness reported a light in the Kyle of Tongue around 3:30am; this light is believed to have been from a liferaft. News soon spread of a possible shipwreck and local people began to scour the beaches for survivors. No survivors were found, as people discovered that a ship had run aground on Dubh-Sgeir Mhor (The Black Rocks) of Talmine, at the mouth of the Kyle of Tongue.
Twenty-seven bodies were washed ashore and taken to the mortuary in Thurso; where fourteen were buried in war graves in Thurso cemetery. The bell of St.Peter's church was tolled during the funeral, which was preceded by a touching and impressive service attended by more than 300 people. Eleven bodies were claimed by the next of kin, the remaining fifteen had no grave, but the sea. Two crew members from the Ashbury are buried in war graves in Tongue cemetery, one is the ships third engineer J T Eddicott, who had replaced the regular engineer at Lochewe when he was taken to hospital with appendicitis. The other grave in Tongue cemetery is that of an unknown sailor whose body was found on Island Rhoan several weeks later.
A formal investigation into the sinking of the Ashbury concluded that the loss of the ship was due to it hitting the Talmine rocks under stress in heavy weather. The ship was unable to maintain safe course in her light condition with only one anchor and short cable; the report also stressed that had it not been for the war conditions the Ashbury would not have been deemed fit to sail from Lochewe.
Today the remains of the Ashbury lie broken up and scattered around the rocks of the Dubh-Sgeir Mhor and make for an excellent dive in a most beautiful top side location. In 2002 the wreck of the Ashbury was featured as part of Diver magazines Wreck Tour series and a link to the article can be found by clicking here. The wreck can be found at GPS co-ordinates 58 32.822N, 4 24.659W (degrees, minutes and decimals) and lie in a maximum depth of about 20m. Still to be seen are her boilers, engine, masts and anchor amongst a jumble of her plates and other general wreckage. It is believed the ships bell (engraved Nitedal) and her deck gun were salvaged by local divers a long time ago and there current location is not known.