During the course of history, many ships have been claimed along the Wild Atlantic Way. Donegal has three hugely famous historic shipwrecks just off Malin Head.
Many British battleships were wrecked off the rugged Donegal coast as Malin Head was used as a lookout point for enemies during both world wars.
HMS Transylvania
The HMS Transylvania was completed in 1925 in Glasgow and was intended to be a passenger ship. It was converted to be an armed merchant ship following the breakout of World War Two. It was sunk by a German U-boat in the early hours of the morning on the 10th of August, 1940. Out of the 336 that were on board, 36 perished.
HMS Audacious
The HMS Audacious was a Royal Navy ship which was sank in October 1914 by a German Naval mine just off Tory Island. Audacious was part of a Battle Squadron called the ‘super-dreadnoughts’. The fleet left Lough Swilly to go to Loch na Keal to conduct gunnery exercises when the mine hit the bottom of the boat.
British officers tried to keep the sinking a secret however following the end of World War One a ‘delayed announcement’ appeared in The Times.
SS Empire Heritage
This ship was en-route to Liverpool from New York when it was targetted by a German U-boat. 113 souls lost their lives when the ship went down.
It makes an ideal diving spot as the wreckage lies only 70m deep. Tanks which fell off the ship can be seen lying on the ocean floor – a stark reminder of a time when the world was at war.
Malin’s diving centre caters for those interested in exploring the wreckage.