Art

Citizen Wrecker

Soft-spoken Irish shipwreck explorer, instructor and image maker, Barry McGill takes us for a ocular tour of iconic Malin Head wrecks and more.

Published

6 months ago

August 24, 2024

InDEPTH

Images and text by Barry McGill. Lead image: 34.3 cm/13.5 in. Guns Turret of HMS Audacious – Dreadnought Battle Ship Sank 27th October 1914 Malin Head, Ireland – 64 m/210ft. It’s one of my favourite wreck dives with an endless possibility of exploration.

"I’ve done most of my diving over the last 20 years off the North coast of Ireland commonly known as Malin head. It has thousands of shipwrecks, including large ocean liners, battleships and over 130 German U-boats. It’s a technical divers’ Mecca if you are into shipwreck diving!"

Gordan Shaw and Brian Kelly exploring the Sherman tanks which litter the seabed around the wreck of SS Empire Heritage. Sank 8^th September 1944. Malin Head, Ireland – 66 m/217ft. Most of the passengers & crew who were being rescued by the nearby SS Pinto, sank again less than 40 minutes later by the same U-Boat U-482.

Dimitris Papakonstan illumining the starboard anchor of HMS Justicia
Sank 20^th July 1918. Malin Head, Ireland – 72 m/236 ft. HMS Justicia was originally called Statendam, however, after the sinking of RMS Lusitania, it was renamed Justicia and given to Cunard. However Cunard couldn’t raise a crew and it was given over to the White Star Line and it was mainly crewed by sailors from HMHS Britannic.

"I have also dived a lot on the south coast of Ireland, where there are some amazing shipwrecks especially the RMS Lusitania and been part of some amazing projects exploring the inside of HMHS Britannic in Greece. It's hard to leave Ireland though, when the diving at home is so tempting."

Inside the 13.5” Guns Turret of HMS Audacious – Dreadnought Battle Ship. Sank 27^th October 1914. Malin Head, Ireland – 64 m/210 ft. Exploring inside this amazing wreck always gives you the potential to explore and find new areas.

"I started in college and got interested in wrecks when I came across Leigh Bishop’s images on deepimage.com. That got me hooked on Malin Head wreck diving as I lived near there. But I found it hard to explain to my friends and family what I was seeing. So, I quickly started making pictures as it was an amazing way to share my experiences."

Perry Brandes diving scale to a voice inside the 13.5” Guns Turret of HMS Audacious – Dreadnought Battle Ship Sank 27^th October 1914. Malin Head, Ireland – 64 m/210 ft. Exploring with friends on these trips is always special and brings out the best kind of memories. Seeing the eyes light up and hearing them shouting through their loops with excitement is always special.

"I have been lucky enough to work on a number of TV documentaries about many of the famous shipwrecks off Malin Head such as HMS Audacious, HMS Curacao, HMS Hurst Castle, HMS Justicia and the U-boat UB-124 which sank her. I have also got involved in a lot of photogrammetry and filming projects in recent years with the Irish Underwater Archaeology Unit, which has been amazing diving on stone age, bronze age log boats."

Stewart Andrews illuminating the port anchor of Cunard liner, HMS Carthinia. Sank 7^th June 1940. North Donegal, Ireland – 118 m/387 ft. Deep shipwreck diving in Ireland doesn’t get any better than this massive ocean liner. Taking ambient light images at this depth is always a challenge and this was my first 100 m (330m) dive back in 2008 when it was first discovered.

"I take mainly ambient light photographs. I try to use offboard lighting as much as possible, and I love to take landscape images that showcase what a diver sees when they stand back from the wreck. It gives life to the images."

Stewart Andrews exploring the Air Defence Platform (ADP) of HMS Curacao.
Sank 2^nd October 1942. North Donegal, Ireland – 125 m/410 ft. Locating and diving this shipwreck was very special back in 2008. Being able to explore it since then has given me some amazing memories. The history of this ship both in WW I and II, its crew and its collision with the Queen Mary has made this one of my all-time favourite shipwrecks.

"I really love finding new things. The feeling you get when you find something new on a wreck that you’ve dived 100 times, or you drop down a shot line on a wreck that nobody has seen in 100 years, is really special. Hunting for new wrecks is something that keeps me passionate about technical diving."

Patrick Valkenborgh giving scale to the bell of HMS Hurst Castle.
Sank 1^st September 1944. Malin Head, Ireland – 85 m/279 ft. We found the wreck of HMS Hurst Castle in 2011. However, the stern section was missing, until we drifted over it while on deco in 2022 some 800m off the main wreck site. This led to the discovery of the stern bell.

"I love diving 60 meter wrecks where you can get an hour easy on the bottom to explore. But when you are looking for new wrecks, you have to take the path less traveled sometimes, and that often means deep wrecks. For me, the depth hasn’t been important, it was what we could find on the bottom."

Katie Kohler with a brass key she discovered on the wreck of RMS Orissa.
Sank 25^th June 1918. Malin Head, Ireland – 118m/387 ft. Sometimes the most interesting things on a wreck are missed by divers. Finding items like a pile of brass keys with the ship’s name on them is always special and helps with the identification of the wreck.

Divers exploring the wreck of the World War 1 German U-Boat U89. Sank 12^th February 1918. Malin Head, Ireland – 60 m/197 ft. This U-boat is crammed with interesting sights and with normally 30 m visibility is always a firm favourite on any Malin Head trip. Rammed and sunk by HMS Roxburgh, all lives were lost on board the U-89.

bronze propellers of HMHS Britannic — *The port & central bronze* propellers of HMHS Britannic. Sank 21^st November 1916, Kea Island, Greece – 120 m/394 ft. *Getting to dive an Olympic class ocean liner is very special. The sheer size of the wreck is breathtaking. You feel like a flea on the back of an elephant.*

"My focus is definitely on finding more new shipwrecks, but Britannic has got a special kind of hold on me. I think the potential for more exploration on the Britannic is very exciting."

Spiral staircase inside the Fo’c’sle of HMHS Britannic . Sank 21^st November 1916 Kea Island, Greece – 120 m/394 ft. Leigh Bishop’s images of these stairs inspired me to explore shipwrecks. I have been part of two internal survey projects on the wreck working in partnership with the ships owner (Simon Mills) and the Greek Ephorate of Marine Antiquities. This has been a very special privilege and a high point in my diving career.

*Rez Soheil investigating one of the Bridge Telegraphs on RMS Lusitania. Sank 7^th May 1915, Cork, Ireland – 90 m/295 ft.* *Note, very few wrecks have the history of RMS Lusitania. It is protected under the National Monuments Act in Ireland and needs to be dived under licence.*

"Most of these images are images from wrecks that have special meanings for me. They were mostly dives where we were able to see something very special and it was exciting moment seeing it with my friends."

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Barry McGill is a deep wreck photographer and technical diving instructor trainer based in Ireland. His main area of focus is exploration of deep-water shipwrecks around the Irish coastline and he has been fortunate enough to discover and explore many significant previously undiscovered shipwrecks.

Exploring iconic shipwrecks such as the H.M.T. Justicia, H.M.S. Audacious and R.M.S. Lusitania left a significant impression on Barry, which helped develop his desire to discover and explore shipwrecks. Barry has organised and led many deep wreck expeditions exploring the deep wrecks off the coast of Ireland, which included the S.S. Empress of Britain (162m), S.S. Transylvania (130m), HMS Curacao (125m), RMS Lusitania (90m)

Barry aims to share his passion for shipwreck exploration by capturing and sharing his images of many previously unphotographed shipwrecks and has been part of a number of television documentaries and his images have appeared in a variety of books and other publications, including the New York Times. Through his company Indepth Technical Diving, Barry teaches all levels of technical diving and leads expeditions annually to many world famous shipwrecks off the Irish coastline.