Thesis.
The Thesis is a small Victorian iron steamer lying on a slope close to the Morvern shore of the Sound of Mull. Her deck and superstructure have gone, leaving an open framework of ribs and girders through which plenty of light falls, with the boiler and engine remains inside. She is covered in dead men's fingers and often has shoals of pollack around the bow.
What's down there.
- Open hull framework you can swim through
- Boiler and engine remains
- Steering gear
- Light streaming through portholes and missing plates
- Hull plates scattered on the seabed
- Dead men's fingers (white and yellow)
- Shoals of pollack
Bow about 14–20 m, stern about 30–35 m.
Strong tidal streams around the Rubha an Ridire headland, so it must be dived at slack water and can be undiveable at some tidal states. Visibility is usually good. Recommended for experienced divers.
How it got there.
Built of iron by McIlwaine, Lewis & Co of Belfast and launched in January 1887 for W A Grainger of Belfast. About 50.9 m (167 ft) long, 378 gross tons, with a compound steam engine. On passage from Middlesbrough to Belfast with pig iron, she ran onto the reef at Inninmore Point (Rubha an Ridire) in fog just after midnight on 16 October 1889, then slid off and sank. Captain Wallace and his 11 crew escaped in the ship's boats.
31 dives.
From the reconstructed log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.