British Splendour
Tanker · United Kingdom · Lost 1942 · The Outer Banks
A British-flagged tanker torpedoed off Ocracoke despite an armed escort, now resting capsized as a Graveyard of the Atlantic dive site.
Mark Tennyson
See Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in 1931 for the British Tanker Company, the vessel was carrying gasoline from Houston toward a Halifax convoy rendezvous when U-552 torpedoed her on April 7, 1942, off Ocracoke, North Carolina, despite an escort of two armed trawlers. Twelve of the 53 aboard were lost; survivors were rescued by HMS St. Zeno. The wreck lies capsized in about 100 feet of water.
Vessel
- 1931
- Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Co. Ltd.
- Hebburn-on-Tyne, England
- Steel
- 441 ft
- 60 ft
- 7138
- Diesel, single screw
- British Tanker Co. Ltd., London
Loss
- April 7, 1942
- Enemy action
- Off Ocracoke, North Carolina
- Atlantic Ocean
- Houston, Texas → Halifax, Nova Scotia (to join a transatlantic convoy)
- 10,000 tons of gasoline
- 53
- 12
- John Hall
The Wreck Today
- 100
- Capsized, resting upside down with a small area of high relief at the stern.
- Inverted
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- 34.819° N 75.903° W
- Surveyed position
- Ocracoke, North Carolina
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)
NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
Build, loss details, coordinates, wreck condition.
Attack narrative, escort ships, casualties.
