SS Clan MacMaster.
The Clan MacMaster was a 6,563-ton Clan Line cargo steamer that struck Thousla Rock in Calf Sound in dense fog in September 1923. All 80 crew reached the Calf of Man safely. She is the largest vessel ever wrecked on the Manx coast, and her broken remains, including engine and boilers, lie in about 15 m in the strong tidal flow of the Sound.
What's down there.
- Largest ship ever wrecked on the Manx coast
- Engines and boilers among the wreckage
- Wreck lies close to Thousla Rock in Calf Sound
- Often combined with a Calf Sound drift dive
Wreckage lies at about 15 m
Calf Sound has strong tidal streams, and drifts there are described at 3 to 4 knots, so timing the tide matters. No source gave visibility or a recommended experience level for the wreck itself.
How it got there.
Launched on 24 February 1917 by William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland, as Sutherland for the Munro Shipping Co Ltd. Clan Line Steamers Ltd (managed by Cayzer, Irving & Co) bought her on 29 December 1917 for £250,000 and renamed her Clan MacMaster in January 1918. She was 6,563 gross tons with a single-screw triple-expansion steam engine (568 NHP) and a speed of 12 knots. On 30 September 1923 she was bound from Glasgow to Liverpool, and then the Far East, carrying machinery, motor cars, Singer sewing machines, cotton goods and about 2,000 tons of coal. In dense fog the currents drove her onto Thousla Rock in Calf Sound. All 80 crew reached the Calf. Some light cargo was salvaged, but she became a total loss and sank within a year. Her wreckage, engines and boilers remain on the seabed. No length was given in the sources found.
7 dives.
From the reconstructed log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.